National mentality of Russians and Germans (comparative analysis: Moscow and Berlin students case study)

Abstract

In the age of globalization every nation faces a problem of preservation of national peculiarities and at the same time a problem to be successfully integrated into the world community. According to the developed conceptual model, national mentality manifests itself in two forms: auto – and hetero-stereotypes which correlate with each other as self-typification and typification (according to A. Shutz). According to the author`s approach, national mentality comprises steady "kernel" (i.e. the ethno-cultural archetypes located below the levels of linguistic worldview and consciousness) and external, inconstant "periphery" (which includes emotional, cognitive and behavioral components and shows itself in economic, political, spiritual and social spheres). The empirical basis of the study is the online survey conducted in December 2013 – February 2014 among Moscow and Berlin students (total of 200 Moscow respondents and 150 Berlin respondents). The author`s conclusions suggest that what brings Germans and Russians together is the economic cooperation and common historical past. The character traits are not only ethno-differentiative feature but one of the key components that pull these two nations together