In order to understand the “mysterious Russian soul”, you need to become more familiar with the national character of Russians. The character of Russians was formed under the influence of certain historical conditions, the geographical location of the country, climate and religion. National traits include the world-famous breadth of the Russian soul. That is why, despite all sorts of rules and regulations that dictate moderation in giving, partners, colleagues of the opposite sex, and superior employees are often given gifts disproportionate in value, truly on a Russian scale.
So, what are the main, dominant features of Russian communicative behavior?
1. One of the most striking features is sociability. Russian people love to communicate and get pleasure from it. We easily enter into communication, make acquaintances easily, we can start talking to a stranger, for example, in transport, in a queue, on the street, with a fellow traveler. In a company or group, it is not customary to remain silent; we even have the concept of “awkward silence.”
2. Emotionality in communication is the next distinguishing feature of the Russian person. We do not hide our emotions in a conversation; sometimes we consider an unemotional person unpleasant, we say “he has a mask on his face.” We can talk emotionally for a long time. This surprises foreigners. One Englishman said: “I saw two Russian men shouting at each other for half an hour.”
3. The priority of heart-to-heart conversation is the next distinctive feature of our communication. The phrases “pour out your soul” and “speak heart to heart” are idioms and also cannot be translated literally into other languages. A heart-to-heart conversation is a long conversation in an informal setting. It happens while eating and drinking. This is a conversation with mutual complaints about the difficulties of life and expressions of sympathy for each other, with assurances of friendship and mutual understanding, with a discussion of intimate issues. If a person does not want to have a heart-to-heart talk, this is assessed negatively.
4. The Russian person is distinguished by the desire for a constant circle of friends. We love old friends and acquaintances, we believe that “an old friend is better than two new ones.” In conversation, we try to find out something about mutual friends. In business communication, Russian people love constant business connections; with old partners, new relationships are established with difficulty and are perceived with caution.
5. Russian people are characterized by curiosity and a desire for broad information. We ask a lot of questions, including to foreigners, and we like to discuss third parties. A Russian person is well informed about the situation in the world, knows a lot about his colleagues and neighbors, and at the same time is proud of his knowledge. Thematic diversity of communication is also a feature of the Russian person. We have our own opinion on each issue; we often ask our interlocutor deeply personal questions: about salary, age, marital status, who you voted for or are going to vote for, etc.
6. Our communication is characterized by situational and thematic freedom, i.e. there is no rigid fixation of conversation topics to the situation, as in most European nations. Both at home and at work, we can talk about almost everything. So, at home we can talk about work, and at work - about domestic problems, we can call our colleagues at home on official matters and at work - on personal matters. We can talk about politics at home (this is not typical for Americans).
7. Uncompromisingness is one of the distinctive aspects of Russian communication. We have a special attitude towards compromise. For some reason, we believe that compromise is bad, and to give in means losing face, to admit that your interlocutor is right means to suffer defeat, and often to give in means to let someone sit on your head. We often equate compromise and opportunism, and generally love extremes: “yes” or “no,” “those who are not with us are against us,” etc.
8. A striking distinguishing feature for a Russian person is their everyday unsmiling. Unlike Europeans and Asians, we very rarely smile at work, at clients, or at strangers. We proceed from the fact that a person’s smile must have some reason and should only be sincere, and not demonstrate politeness of service, for example.
These features are characteristic of the communication of many Russian people, but there are, of course, people in whose communication many of these qualities are not manifested or are barely noticeable. Of course, one can say that one likes this trait and dislikes this one, but this will be a person’s personal opinion, and in relation to the people as a whole, not a single quality or feature of their communication, as well as their character, can be assessed as good or bad.