In 2006, Dr Vitaly Tepikin identified the characteristics of the group comprising the intelligentsia as follows:
1. the advanced for its time moral ideals, sensitivity to the neighbor, tact and gentleness in manifestations;
2. active mental work and continuous self-education;
3. patriotism, based on faith in his people and selfless, inexhaustible love for small and big motherland;
4. the creative tirelessness of all the units of the intelligentsia (and not just the artistic part of it, as many people consider it), asceticism;
5. independence, the desire for freedom of expression and finding it yourself;
6. a critical attitude to the current government, the condemnation of any manifestations of injustice, anti-humanism, anti-democracy;
7. loyalty to one's convictions prompted by conscience under the most difficult conditions and even a tendency to self-denial;
8. ambiguous perception of reality, which leads to political fluctuations, and sometimes and the manifestation of conservatism;
9. an aggravated sense of resentment due to lack of implementation (real or apparent), which sometimes leads to the extreme closeness of the intellectual;
10. periodic misunderstanding, rejection of each other by representatives of various groups of the intelligentsia, as well as a single squad, which is caused by bouts of selfishness and impulsivity (most often characteristic of artistic intelligentsia).
