Russian social mood is declining; public optimism is falling; people expect a further deterioration in the situation in the country.

MOSCOW, September 21, 2015. Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VCIOM) presents the data describing how Russians assess the situation in the country and their personal life. 

This year, Social mood index describing the situation in the country* has lost 12 points from May to August (from 73 to 61 p.) and reached a record low. Today the index performs poorly compared to the September 2014 meaning (68 p.), however, it exceeds the records of the recent years (including the August 2009 meaning - 24 p.). The recent data shows that 11% of respondents believe that “everything is good” in the country; 67% - “everything is normal”; 14% - “everything is bad”.

Remarkably, the situation in the country is assessed much more positively by Russians. Despite small decline, the corresponding index* still has high rankings (78 p. in August) that exceed the meanings of the similar periods in recent years, including 2014. In January this year, the index made up 80 p. Those who are more positive about their personal life are Russians aged 18-24 (37% say that everything is “perfect or “good”), those who have high income (37%), and residents of small cities (35%).

Social expectation index** keeps performing negatively. From July to August the index has lost 8 points (from -39 to -47 p.). Thus, the indicator fell to a five-month low. Negative mood has increased against the background of the considerable decrease in the share of those who believe that “the hard times are over” (from 27% in July to 21% in August). Smaller number of Russians are optimistic about Russia`s future than a year ago (-22 p. in September 2014); the index is at the 2009 levels (-49 p. in August).

*Social mood indices show how Russians assess the situation in the country / personal life. The indices are based on the questions “How would you generally assess the situation in the country/your life?”  Each index is calculated as a difference between answers “everything is normal, “everything is perfect”, “everything is good” and “everything is bad”, “everything is horrible”. The index may vary between -100 and 100 points. The higher the value of index is, the better the situation in the country/personal life is.

**Social expectation index shows how optimistic Russians are about the future of the country. The index is calculated as a difference between the answer “It is over” and the sum of answers “it is now”, “it is yet to happen”. The index may vary between -100 and 100 points. The higher the value of index is, the more optimistic Russians are about the country `s future. Zero meaning corresponds to the balance between optimistic and pessimistic assessments.

The VCIOM opinion poll was conducted August 29-30, 2015; 1600 respondents were interviewed in 130 settlements in 46 regions of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3.5%.

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!