RuEn

Journal section "Social development"

Problems and Prospects of Spiritual and Moral Well-Being of the Russian People

Styrov M.M., Tikhomirova V.V.

Volume 10, Issue 4, 2017

Styrov M.M., Tikhomirova V.V. Problems and Prospects of Spiritual and Moral Well-Being of the Russian People. Economic and Social Changes: Facts, Trends, Forecast, 2017, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 180-195. DOI: 10.15838/esc.2017.4.52.10

DOI: 10.15838/esc.2017.4.52.10

Abstract   |   Authors   |   References
The article reviews statistical and sociological characteristics of spiritual and moral well-being of the Russian people during 2000–2015. The authors present their own system of indicators consisting of three components: personal, family and social well-being. Special attention is paid to issues of mortality caused by external causes, harmful addictions, family breakdown, abortion, crime and economic inequality. The article suggests there is a nonlinear correlation between the level of economic development and moral and psychological climate in the society. It shows that Russian society starting from 2000 is characterized by a trend of spiritual recovery; however, some indicators indicate stagnation or even deterioration. The general level of population’s spiritual and moral health is far from perfect and is nowhere near the indicators of many foreign countries. The authors characterize the recent positive changes in these spheres and stress the need to pay even more attention to the social and educational component in the government policy. The authors believe that Russia can and should become a state where common efforts ensure a high level of person’s spiritual and moral well-being, close to best global standards and surpassing them eventually. They offer specific events and courses of action to achieve this goal and recommended making better use of the mentioned indicators of human well-being when evaluating the success of the socio-economic development, as well as implementing integral indices comprehensively characterizing this sphere into management practice. It seems appropriate to thoroughly study people’s moral and psychological condition based on statistics, sociological surveys and expert estimates, with further continuous monitoring. The authors touch upon the development of concepts on spiritual and moral well-being of the Russian population. It is argued that people’s spiritual and moral improvement is a joint responsibility of state authorities and religious organizations, with further review of individual principles of their interaction

Keywords

state, family, society, children, spiritual and moral well-being, individual, human

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