Abstract: The author discusses the idea of the distinctive character of Russian liberalism and defines the place of Russian liberalism in the 'liberal family'. The author describes religious and ideological roots of liberal mentality, the influence of moral and religious archetypes of Russian culture on perception of Western liberal ideas. He also reveals adaptation mechanisms ensuring the integration of liberal ideas into the Russian environmental perception. Based on the dialectical and comparative methods, the author concludes that unlike the Western mentality, Russian liberal mentality has another nature, form and other methods of distribution and it is rather stable and variable. The author of the article establishes that Russian liberal mentality was not just the Western European phenomenon adjusted to the new historical environment but was formed as the national variant of liberalism that had the distinctive and universal meaning. The main focus of attention is on determination of the in-depth fundamental mental layers and elements of liberal mentality and peculiarities.