Russia in Russian self-actualization

The article speaks about research on the dynamics of impression change on the image of Russia and Russian society in the sight of Saint-Petersburg population. Different data is associated in the research - the results of the surveys of 1996, 2001, 2007 and 2012-2013, which has been achieved under the supervision of the author in the laboratory of ethnic sociology and psychology of the Faculty of sociology of SPbSU. The author pays a special attention to the correlation of perception of Russia as a motherland, Russian state and state power and, in particular, the impression of federative organization of the state, the p opularity of the particular p olitical catchphrases formed as a national idea and the abundance of the ethnocentrism. There are analyzed the influence of demographic characteristics of the participants on the content of their answers. The main accent is on the analysis of symbolic associations connected with the image of Russia. The effectiveness of the symbolic approach in the sociological research is argued as well.