The article analyzes the results of long-term research оf the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, presented in the monograph «Capitals and regions in modern Russia: myths and reality fifteen years later». The research is based on the comparison of opinions about the changes in the attitudes of residents of the large capital metropolises like Moscow and St. Petersburg with the opinion of the inhabitants of the Russian provinces. The basis of the empirical base for the project was the national 2017 year research «The capitals and regions: 15 years later» and the 2003 year study «The metropolises and provinces in the modern Russia: images and reality», as well as a number of other sociological studies of IS RAS. The analytical review of the results of large-scale research is conducted in order to find the reserves for social and political consolidation of Russian society and the state, verification and comparison of the findings with the results of sociological research of other research centers. Special attention is paid to critical assessments of mass consciousness on the actual aspects of society life and objective crisis parameters of socio-economic and socio-political transformations.