The purpose of the study presented in the article is the empirical investigation of cultural and historical factors determining the direction of social activity of the student youth. The empirical study was carried out on a sample of students (N = 236), which included high school students from secondary schools (n = 118) and university students (n = 118) from the city of Saratov and Saratov region. We used a questionnaire aimed at registering various forms of social activity and the degree of their manifestation (R. M. Shamionov, I. V. Arendachiuk, E. E. Bocharova, M.