Belief in Equality and Democratic Leadership Behavior in Two Russian Samples

Does the belief in equality significantly affect democratic leadership in contemporary Russia? The belief in equality is defined as a set of assumptions that human ability and potential are widely distributed rather than concentrated in elite minorities. A reliable and valid inventory of the belief in equality (BE scale) which had been developed in the United States was successfully translated into Russian. Two separate samples were studied-one of Russian university students (N = 200) and the other from the Russian workforce (N = 213). Among the university students, high BE participants exhibited higher democratic leadership behaviors than low BE participants (especially true of the under-20-year-old students); however, this effect was just barely detectable for the older work-force sample. Speculations are offered regarding the differences in results between the university and the work-force sample.