Formation of the Social Identity of the Youth of the Region: The Potential of Aesthetic Information

Introduction. An urgent interdisciplinary problem is the identification of factors that determine the processes of constructing social identity, which is the socio-cultural foundation of the existence of any community. The aim of the work is to identify the actual role and potential of artistic and aesthetic components of social space in the process of forming the regional identity of the youth. Materials and Methods. The empirical basis of the study was the data of a questionnaire survey of the youth of Moscow and the Moscow region, Penza and Saratov regions (n = 1000) and interviews with representatives of the student youth of Saratov and Penza (n = 30), devoted to the analysis of the identification hierarchy of the youth and the influence of aesthetic components of the social space of the region on the formation of its regional identity. These methods revealed the important role of artistic and aesthetic components of the regional social space in the construction of regional identity and regional patriotism of the youth of the region. Results. Based on the results of the research, a conclusion has been made about the connection between “local” patriotism and specific social attitudes focused on the development of the territorial community and the improvement of its image, as well as about the partial determinism of the regional components of the respondents’ social identity by figurative and aesthetic factors. It is shown that at the theoretical level, taking into account the aesthetic factors of the construction of social identity implies a transition from deterministic models of interaction in the system “social environment – emerging personality” to stochastic ones. Discussion and Conclusion. The authors point out when modeling the process of forming the social identity of young people, theoretical models based on the concepts of social constructivism should take into account the unique, intimate-personal interactions of a particular individual with separate socio-cultural phenomena symbolizing collective identity. The results of the study can be used by all agents of socialization in the practice of applying aesthetic components of regional social space in the process of forming regional patriotism.