Amidst fall in fears regarding economic situation, international tensions are ranked first among top Russian fears.
MOSCOW, August 10, 2016. Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VCIOM) presents the data of the survey describing the problems Russians are most concerned about.
The fears related to economic situation and social issues have weakened in July; however today the situation can be considered to be tenser than a year ago, across all the indicators.
The biggest anxieties still involve conflicts (including military disputes) between the countries (in July, the index describing the fear expressed in terms of probability of certain problems was almost stable and reached 21 p.), increasing prices for goods and devaluing savings (a decrease from 21 to 17 p., ranked second). A year ago the corresponding indicators were 10 and 7 p. (on a scale from -100 to 100 p.).
The indices of fears related to crime and internal rioting have become negative: -1 (from 5 p.) and – 3 p. (from 2 p.), respectively; however the today’s readings are higher than the July 2015 levels (-8 and -9 p.). For the time being, natural disasters seem more real to Russians than a year ago (-3 p. in July this year vs. -13 p. in July 2015).
Simultaneously, the indices of fears of reducing incomes and job loss have reached yearly highs (- 14 p. and -30 p.). Health problems and difficulties getting medical assistance (-2p.) pose concerns for the same number of respondents as a year ago (- 3). Against all these changes, family remains firm: the index of fears of conflicts with relatives has been fluctuating within -41 and -48 p. this year and reached -46 p. in July.
*Fear Index reflects how high the probability of certain event is for Russian respondents. The Index is based on the question “In your opinion, what is the likelihood that the following events will happen in your life?”; it is measured in points and can vary between -100 and 100. The answers “I am completely confident that it will happen” corresponds to the coefficient “1”; “I think it will happen” – “0.5”; “it is likely to happen” - “0.1”; “it is not likely to happen” - “0.1”; “I think it will not happen -“0.5"; “I am completely confident that it will not happen”- “-1”. The higher the value of index is, the higher the probability of this event is.
The VCIOM opinion polls were conducted on July 16-17, 2016, in 130 settlements, 46 regions and 9 federal districts of Russia. Sample size for each survey was 1600 persons. The surveys were conducted with multi-stage stratified sample based on general rule of walking and quotas at the final selection stage; the sample is representative of the Russian population aged 18 and over according to sex, age, education, type of settlement. The margin of error (taking into account the design effect) with 95% confidence interval does not exceed 3.5%. The survey method is community-based formalized face-to-face interviews. Apart from the margin of error, minor changes in question wording and different circumstances arising during the field work should be taken into account.
What is the likelihood that the following events will happen in your life? (closed-ended question, one answer, Fear Index *, points) | |||||||||||||
| VII.15 | VIII.15 | IX.15 | X.15 | XI.15 | XII.15 | I.16 | II.16 | III.16 | IV.16 | V.16 | VI.16 | VII.16 |
International tensions, conflicts between countries, military actions | 10 | 14 | 18 | 20 | 30 | 27 | 23 | 25 | 21 | 19 | 16 | 20 | 21 |
Common products disappeared or became too expensive; savings devalued | 7 | 10 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 13 | 19 | 19 | 22 | 20 | 16 | 21 | 17 |
Crime rampage | -8 | -7 | 0 | -2 | 3 | -3 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 5 | -1 |
Health problems; difficulties getting medical assistance and medicines | -3 | -4 | 0 | -4 | -2 | -3 | -3 | -2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -2 |
Riots, inter-ethnic and religious internal conflicts | -9 | -6 | -2 | -7 | 1 | -6 | 0 | -2 | -1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -3 |
Flood, earthquake, other natural disaster | -13 | -13 | -12 | -19 | -17 | -17 | -12 | -16 | -9 | -4 | -8 | -2 | -3 |
Decrease in income (salary cut, switch to a lower paid job, switch to part-time, delays in paying salaries) | -14 | -15 | -9 | -13 | -10 | -9 | -8 | -10 | -8 | -10 | -12 | -11 | -14 |
Job loss | -27 | -25 | -23 | -31 | -25 | -25 | -23 | -27 | -22 | -25 | -24 | -24 | -30 |
Family conflicts, break-up with relatives | -47 | -42 | -45 | -46 | -47 | -45 | -48 | -48 | -48 | -46 | -43 | -41 | -46 |
In your opinion, what is the likelihood that the following events will happen in your life? (closed-ended question, one answer per each line, % of respondents, July 2016) | |||||||
| I am completely confident that it will happen (it has already happened) | I think that it will happen | It is likely to happen | It is unlikely to happen | I think that it will not happen | I am completely confident that it will not happen | Don’t know |
Common products disappeared or became too expensive; savings devalued | 23 | 16 | 20 | 14 | 13 | 7 | 7 |
International tensions, conflicts between countries, military actions | 22 | 20 | 22 | 12 | 12 | 6 | 6 |
Crime rampage | 12 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 19 | 10 | 8 |
Flood, earthquake, other natural disaster | 11 | 14 | 17 | 17 | 19 | 11 | 11 |
Health problems; difficulties getting medical assistance and medicines | 11 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 22 | 9 | 7 |
Riots, inter-ethnic and religious internal conflicts | 9 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 21 | 10 | 7 |
Decrease in income (salary cut, switch to a lower paid job, switch to part-time, delays in paying salaries) | 9 | 10 | 17 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 9 |
Job loss | 4 | 6 | 10 | 18 | 24 | 24 | 14 |
Family conflicts, break-up with relatives | 3 | 4 | 8 | 18 | 27 | 36 | 4 |
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