The article presents a theoretical and empirical analysis of the phenomenon of youth values in the context of social and ethno-cultural transformations of Russian society. The results of focus groups conducted with the youth of the Saratov and Samara regions aged 18 to 35 showed the contexts of the manifestation of terminal values – family, health, self-development, freedom and personal and professional self-realization, acting as the basic guidelines of the younger generation and the characteristics of the relationship to ethnocultural diff erences.