Dreams and Desires of Preschoolers

The research presented in this article is part of the “Children in a Changing World” project, a cross-sectional study that explores the influence of social changes on the world views of children. The project was launched in 1992, at a time when socioeconomic reforms began to unfold in Russia. Six cross sections have been conducted to date, each including interviews with older preschoolers in the age range of 5.6-7.0 years. The children were asked about their life today and how they imagine it in the future. This article analyzes the way that the dreams and desires of older preschoolers have changed over the past two decades (comparing the dreams and desires children expressed in the 1990s with those voiced by children of the same age in 2015). The main results obtained through qualitative analysis suggest certain changes in the structure of the preschooler's desires (in particular, an increase in “magical,” non-realistic wishes) and a decrease in the negative influence of the distant environment on the children.