The state and the church as regulators of pro-social behavior of Russians: an institutional analysis

The issue of understanding socio-cultural challenges and threats to the state, society and the individual requires justification of socially approved, positive value-semantic grounds for maintaining the unity of Russian society. Political philosophy and social evolutionism show that the state and religion may act as institutional regulators of pro-social human behavior. The moral and doctrinal obligations acquired on the basis of religious identity play an important role in the formation of pro-social behavior. Modern research conducted by Western sociologists and social psychologists does not give a clear answer to the issue of the influence of the Christian faith on pro-sociality. Since the second half of 2012, Russia has been developing a new strategy for the development of society, building it on a traditionally conservative basis based on the cultural and Orthodox traditions of charity, mutual assistance and care. Orthodox faith and ecclesiasticism have an impact on the pro-social behavior of Russians. At the same time, our study showed that among Russians there is an ambivalent idea of a pro-socially oriented person in terms of religiosity and traditionalism. The development of ideas and practices of pro-social behavior, voluntary service to the needy finds a significant response in Christianity. The Russian Orthodox Church is rapidly developing both types of various diaconal practices of volunteering and their mass popularization, which indicates a qualitative modification of socio-cultural attitudes in the church and public space: there is a certain shift to institutional trends.