Regional dimensions of young students' attitude to extremism

The purpose of this study is to investigate regional differences in young students' attitude to extremism and to identify characteristics of the regional sociocultural environment which affects the development of extremist patterns (based on Tomsk, Yekaterinburg, and Saint-Petersburg). The research method is the Questionnaire Survey aimed at identifying youth's attitude to different aspects of extremism The multivariate analysis methods were used for statistical processing of questionnaire survey results. Three types of attitudes to extremism were identified: 1) mixed and uncertain attitude; 2) tendency to chauvinism and extremism; 3)tendency to tolerance. Students with permanent residence in the Southern, Central and Northwestern Federal Districts are more likely to reject the mixed and uncertain attitude to extremism as compared with other districts. Such a relationship suggests that a share of ideologically indifferent young people with uncertain positions who are not prone to extremism is low and less typical of the regions close to capital cities than in eastern peripheral regions. Youth in the Siberian Federal District is more prone to tolerance. Youth in the Ural Federal District is more inclined to chauvinism and extremism. Clearer and more statistically significant differences are observed in the association of attitude to extremism with a university city. Tomsk is associated with the cluster "tendency to tolerance" and, to a lesser degree, with the cluster "mixed and uncertain attitude". Most representatives of the cluster "tendency to chauvinism and extremism" study in Yekaterinburg. Most students in Saint-Petersburg belong to the cluster "tendency to tolerance". In general, the identified differences suggest that each region has its own specific combination of factors underlying the attitude to extremism in the young community. Therefore, not only the specifics of a university city but also the specifics of regions students come from should be taken into account for prevention of extremism.

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