Media Consumption as a Socio-Cultural Determinant of Value Hierarchies and Ideological Preferences of Russians

Abstract

The rapid development of digitalization radically transforms the channels of media consumption and leads to the fragmentation of the information space, which changes the socio-cultural context of the reproduction of value hierarchies in the mass consciousness. Value hierarchies play a decisive role in the formation of ideological preferences among modern Russians, which has not yet been sufficiently understood in sociological theory. The purpose of the study is to determine the relationship and mutual influence of media consumption, value hierarchies and ideological orientations. As a working hypothesis, the thesis was put forward that the nature and structure of mass consumption depends on age, and it itself affects the formation of subjective value hierarchies and ideological preferences. The analysis is based on the results of a mass survey «Russians about prospects – 2023» conducted in 2023 by the Center for the Sociology of Ideological and Socio-Cultural Processes of the ISPI FNSC RAS in a number of regions of Russia. Based on the results of the analysis, conclusions are drawn about the confirmation of the relationship between media consumption indicators and intergenerational differences in value hierarchies and ideological orientations in the modern Russian mass consciousness. Thus, the theoretical and methodological basis for the study of socio-cultural determinants of ideological processes in modern Russian society was supplemented.