A record number of Russians want their relatives to serve in the army.
MOSCOW, February 21, 2017. In Anticipation of the Defender’s Day, Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the results of a survey describing how Russians perceive Russian Armed Forces.
In the public consciousness the Russian Armed Forces are mainly perceived positively: Russians express respect (46%), pride (39%), hope (26%), and trust (24%). The shares of negative assesments are small (distrust – 4%, disappointment – 4%).
According to respondents, Russian officers have many positive characters. Most of respondents say they defend national interest (average score on a scale of 1-5 is 4.3 with 1 being “not typical character” and 5 being “typical character”); they are courageous (4.3; this figure has increased from 3.7 in 2015), and responsible (4.3).
They are perceived as professionals (4.2) who are ready to risk their lives when performing their duties (4.2) and defend the interests of ordinary citizens (4.1). At the same time, respondents say that fairness (4.1), humane attitude (4.1) and honesty (4.0) are also typical for them. The least common feature (from the list of traits) is modesty (3.7).
Sixty-four percent of Russians would like their close relatives (male) to serve in the Russian army; they are opposed by 25%.
The VCIOM survey was conducted in October, 2016 in 130 settlements, 46 oblasts, krais and republics and 8 federal districts of Russia, with a sample of 1600 persons representative of the Russian population aged 18 and over according to sex, age, education, type of settlement. The survey was conducted with multi-stage stratified sample based on general rule of walking and quotas at the final selection stage. The margin of error (taking into account the design effect) with 95% confidence interval does not exceed 3.4%. The survey method is community-based structured face-to-face interviews. Apart from the margin of error, minor changes in question wording and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork should be taken into account.
What feelings do you have when you hear someone talking about the Russian Armed Forces? (closed-ended question, not more than two answers, %) | |
| 2016 |
Respect | 46 |
Pride | 39 |
Hope | 26 |
Trust | 24 |
Indifference | 5 |
Admiration | 5 |
Disappointment | 4 |
Distrust | 4 |
Skepsis | 2 |
Condemnation | 1 |
Don’t know | 3 |
In your opinion, to what extent are the following characters typical for Russian officers? Please assess on a scale of 1-5 with 1 being “not typical character” and 5 being “typical character”. (closed-ended question, average score on a scale of 1-5 with 1 being “not typical character” and 5 being “typical character) | ||
| 2015 | 2016 |
Courage | 3.7 | 4.3 |
Defending national interest | 4.1 | 4.3 |
Responsibility | 4.0 | 4.3 |
Professionalism | 3.6 | 4.2 |
Ready to risk his life when performing the duties | 4.2 | 4.2 |
Fairness | 4.2 | 4.1 |
Humane attitude | 4.0 | 4.1 |
Ready to defend the interests of ordinary people | 4.1 | 4.1 |
Honesty | 4.0 | 4.0 |
Modesty | 4.0 | 3.7 |
Would you like your son/brother/husband/close relative to serve in the Russian army now? * (closed-ended question, one answer, %) | |||||||
| 2002 | 2010 | 2012 | 2014 | 02.2015 | 11.2015 | 2016 |
Rather yes | 20 | 36 | 52 | 53 | 47 | 57 | 64 |
Rather not | 74 | 50 | 40 | 41 | 47 | 31 | 25 |
Don’t know | 6 | 14 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 12 | 11 |
* Up to November 2015 the question was “Would you like your son/brother/husband/close relative to serve in the army now?»
Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory!