THE STRUCTURE OF THE SOCIAL REPRESENTATIONS ABOUT CONSCIENCE OF BELIEVERS AND UNBELIEVERS STUDENTS
Social representations about conscience can reflect the moral orientation of a person and society. By studying representations about conscience, one can reveal the maturity/immaturity of moral beliefs and the positive-negative valence of the perception of conscience and, thereby, determine the degree of formation of the moral sphere of the individual. The purpose of this study was to study the structure of social ideas about conscience among high school students depending on their religious identity. The study sample consisted of 175 schoolchildren in grades 9-11 (14-16 years old) living in Moscow and Kazan. The results showed that high school students who consider themselves believers have a more complete and clear understanding of the phenomenon of conscience than their non-believing peers. In the group of believing adolescents, they more often agree with statements that characterize the essential aspects of the concept of conscience, and the group of non-believers statistically more often agrees with the uselessness of conscience for a person in modern life. At the same time, among believing high school students, the percentage is twice as high as among non-believing teenagers who agree with the judgments that “A person does not do bad deeds so as not to be ashamed later” and that “A person with a conscience is weak and fearful”, which shows the attitude of believing respondents to conscience as an external, socially oriented moral regulator. The results obtained are expected and natural in connection with the special characteristics of the religious worldview, and in general may indicate the state of the moral consciousness of today's youth.