The problem of forming of state image in mass political consciousness of contemporary Russia

The study of characteristics of formation of state image in mass political consciousness is one of the most topical trend of research in Russian politic-psychology. Such interest is fully appropriate because a state is the fundamental of society which is controlling and regulating all basic spheres of human life. Creation of this image presumes that an individual gets different signals from external environment and then cognitively processes the received information. We point out several important factors which play the key role in formation of state image in mass political consciousness of Russian citizens. First of all we are interested in the new Russian state formation as an object of perception in post soviet period. The process of transformation is combined with multiple changes both in political, social and economical spheres and in people's minds. Such processes as changing of political course, system of values, foreign-policy priorities became a part of citizen's everyday life. This created a situational context for perception of the state image. People's civil reaction to those events, acceptance or rejection of reforms and their attitude to the new state power, which was personified with the new state, can be explained with political culture which emerged in Russia for centuries. Therefore political culture and situational context create another factor of forming of state image the political context. Over the past 20 years the mass media increased its influence on public opinion. Now it is not a source of information only, but a powerful political-psychological mechanism which can seriously transform the political consciousness of citizens. For this reason the mass media is one of the most important parts of another communication factor that influences the formation of state image.

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