The purpose of the research. The article is dedicated to the formation of life strategies in capitals and provinces. Life goals are considered in relation to life meaning settings reflected in ideas about life success, factors of settings achievement, life values. There is considered life planning horizon, saturation and focusing of life plans of youth in capitals and provinces. Analyzed connection between youth’s ideas about the possibilities of achieving life goals and social feelings, influence of negative self-forecasting on the formation of pessimistic psychoemotional background and critical assessments of the situation in the country, negative attitude towards the authorities.

Results. The article shows that youth in capitals, compared to youth in provinces, is more critical of the external context of their life; it often looks at the circumstances of its own life through the prism of opportunities for development. It is more often focused on self-positioning in the "large society" and influencing it, and demonstrates an active subjective approach in achieving its goals. It is more often confident that it can achieve success, and doubts about it worsen the emotional background, increase criticality in relation to what is happening in the country and to the authorities. Youth in provinces perceives the general context and circumstances of its own life more positively, and is more often focused on goals related to the "small society". It is more dependent on external circumstances, more often ready for failure in life, but this does not cause it to feel negative about its own life or the external world. A conclusion is made about the possibilities of using the analysis of life strategies in studying the specifics of the formation of social and socio-political sentiments of representatives of different groups of youth. The empirical basis of the article is all-Russian surveys of FCTAS RAS.