Crisis For Russians - An Incentive For Development - Opinions

The All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM) tried to find out how we assess the situation in the country and personal life and whether we are making plans for the future, having interviewed 1,600 people in January in 130 settlements in 46 regions, territories and republics of Russia.

If a year ago there was optimism in the respondents' answers, after these New Year holidays only 30% of Russians assess their life situation as “good” or “excellent” (56% - “normal”, 11% - “bad” or “terrible”) and 25% believe that in the country as a whole, “everything is bad” / “everything is awful” (72%, however, rated the general situation as “normal” / “good” / “excellent”).

Against this background, optimism about the future continues to decline: more than half of the survey participants (53%) believe that the worst times are ahead, and every fourth (25%) says that we are experiencing them right now. But courageous Russians still try to make plans for life (80%), but not everyone succeeds in this with equal success.

And if 44% are engaged in planning without encountering serious obstacles (last year this share fluctuated between 40-47%), then 36% complain that in the current conditions it is impossible to plan anything seriously and with great precision. Fortunately, one in five in Russia (19%) has already learned to live “today” of his own free will, not striving to make plans for the future.

EXPERT OPINION

DREAM OR GOLGOF

The most interesting thing in all sociological polls is what was not included in them. Questions that were not asked and answers that no one gave.

The fact is that society is divided not so much in the attitude of people to their situation, but in the strategies that people create and implement. You can be sure that you need to build your life yourself, planning and acting - and do nothing. We can assume that the peak of the crisis is still ahead - and at the same time do not give up and fight for your happiness. Everyone makes this choice for themselves, and it seems that most Russians are focused on the best. This can be seen in the figures given. Everything is already bad and will be even worse, but in my personal world, everything is not bad - that's what the numbers say.

There are two reliable indicators that the general attitude of people is close to critically low. This is an explosion in the sale of antidepressants and an increase in the number of suicides. Nothing of the kind, thank God, is observed. Yes, in Russia the most common antidepressant (and method of suicide) is alcohol. But Rosstat does not observe a sharp increase in alcohol sales either.

So it can be stated: despite the fact that they tried (and are trying) to intimidate us as much as possible, it does not work. The mysterious Russian character is responsible for that or an already developed habit of waiting out crises - but on the whole there is more optimism in us. The inability to plan your life is, after all, an incentive for creativity and non-standard solutions. And this is what we can do best.

Dmitry Zanko,

psychologist