The Russian Fatalist Mentality: A Study of the Protestant Ethic among Russian Latter-day Saint Converts

Authors

Daniel Cardoza, Brigham Young University
Dr. Tony Brown, Brigham Young University

Keywords

Russian fatalist mentality, Protestant ethic, Russian converts, Latter-Day Saints

College

Humanities

Department

German and Russian

Abstract

The traditional Russian mentality views life with an optimistic fatalism and passivity. This ideology is so inherently Russian that even grammar has adopted passive tendencies with phrases like mne prikhoditsia or mne nuzhno (“to me is necessitated,” or “to me is needed”), as opposed to standard English, constructions, “I must” or “I need” (with emphasis on the I as the agent of action). Typically, Russians see life as something that happens to them rather than something in which they participate. This mindset differs radically from the way in which Westerners view their place in the world.

Recommended Citation

Cardoza, Daniel and Brown, Dr. Tony (2014) "The Russian Fatalist Mentality: A Study of the Protestant Ethic among Russian Latter-day Saint Converts," Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2014: Iss. 1, Article 639.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2014/iss1/639