International tensions and price increase are main things most of Russians feel anxious about.
MOSCOW, September 24, 2015. Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VCIOM) presents the results of the survey devoted to the fears of Russians.
More Russians pay attention to international tensions; the fear index* made up 14 p. in August (10 p. in July). Six out of ten Russians (60%) think that international conflicts are real threat to be afraid of in the future.
Slightly more Russians are anxious about the price increase for goods and the devaluation of savings (from 7 p. in July to 10 p. in August). The August reading shows a two-fold decrease (18-19 p. in January and March). About half of Russians (56%) say that they may face this problem in the future (or they have already faced it). At the same time, respondents are less anxious about decreased revenues (-15 p; 39% of those who are anxious). The share of Russians who mentioned this problem was bigger in the beginning of the year (-5 p.). Redundancy seems to be less probable (-25 p.); for comparison, the index was -19 p. in the beginning of the year.
The metric measuring health problems and difficulties getting medical assistance has not changed (- 3 p. in July and -4 п. in August). Crime rate index has not shown any considerable fluctuations (-8 and -7 p., respectively). The metric reflecting the public assessments of the probability of natural disasters is also at the same levels (-13 p.). There has been a five-point increase in anxiety concerning family conflicts (from -47 to -42); however, this problem is least important for Russians: 79% are not anxious about family problems.
*Fear Index reflects how high Russians assess the probability of certain event. The Index is based on the question “How would you assess the probability of the following events to 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 poll was conducted September 29-30, 2015; 1600 respondents were interviewed in 130 settlements in 46 regions of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3.5%.
How would you assess the probability of the following events to happen in your life? (closed-ended question, one answer, fear index*) | ||||||||
| 01.2015 | 02.2015 | 03.2015 | 04.2015 | 05.2015 | 06.2015 | 07.2015 | 08.2015 |
International tensions, conflicts between nations, military actions | 14 | 16 | 19 | 14 | 12 | 13 | 10 | 14 |
Normal goods have disappeared or became very expensive; savings devalued | 18 | 19 | 19 | 13 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 10 |
Problems with health: difficulties getting medical aid and medicine | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | -1 | -5 | -3 | -4 |
Crime rate increase | 0 | -1 | -1 | -5 | -5 | -9 | -8 | -7 |
Riots, internal political, ethnic or religious conflicts | -1 | -1 | -2 | -4 | -7 | -9 | -9 | -6 |
Flood, earthquake, other natural disaster | -19 | -17 | -14 | -12 | -18 | -4 | -13 | -13 |
Decline in revenues (salary cut, low-wage job, switching to part-time, etc,) | -5 | -5 | -10 | -11 | -13 | -14 | -14 | -15 |
Job loss | -19 | -18 | -20 | -22 | -24 | -27 | -27 | -25 |
Family conflicts, break-up with family or people | -30 | -35 | -36 | -44 | -43 | -42 | -47 | -42 |
How would you assess the probability of the following events to happen in your life? (closed-ended question, one answer per each line, % respondents, August 2015) | |||||||
| Completely confident, it will happen (it has happened) | I think it will happen | It is likely to happen | It is not likely to happen | I think it will not happen | I am completely confident that it will not happen | Don`t know |
International tensions, conflicts between nations, military actions | 17 | 20 | 23 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 6 |
Normal goods have disappeared or became very expensive; savings devalued | 20 | 12 | 24 | 16 | 12 | 11 | 5 |
Problems with health: difficulties getting medical aid and medicine | 10 | 12 | 22 | 22 | 19 | 10 | 5 |
Flood, earthquake, other natural disaster | 9 | 11 | 18 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 9 |
Crime rate increase | 10 | 10 | 18 | 22 | 19 | 12 | 9 |
Riots, internal political, ethnic or religious conflicts | 9 | 12 | 20 | 21 | 18 | 12 | 8 |
Decline in revenues (salary cut, low-wage job, switching to part-time, etc,) | 8 | 11 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 19 | 7 |
Job loss | 4 | 8 | 14 | 23 | 20 | 22 | 9 |
Family conflicts, break-up with family or people | 3 | 4 | 10 | 20 | 27 | 32 | 5 |
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