What is social well-being and where in Russia is it better? Social well-being of the population What is social well-being
Table 4
Will priority projects allow you to change the following areas of your life (your life*
Answer option Yes No Difficult to answer
Health status 32 54 14
Level of education 28 56 16
Providing food 18 62 20
Housing conditions 22 60 18
Financial situation 12 68 20
Received 07/13/11.
THE CONCEPT OF “SOCIAL WELL-BEING” IN SOCIOLOGY
O. N. Sunyakina
This concept represents the emotional and evaluative attitude of individuals to the surrounding social reality and their place in it. At the level of social groups and communities, this concept reflects social sentiments and the degree of social stability/instability of society.
The concept of social well-being in sociology has a relatively recent history. Published in the mid-1960s. B. D. Parygin’s monograph “Public Mood” is one of the first studies in the study this concept. An analogue of this definition in foreign studies is subjective well-being subject well benign, which draws the attention of researchers to the subjective state of society and individual social groups.
The term “social well-being” has already entered into scientific terminology, but there are still problems with a clear definition of the concept. For the purposes of sociological analysis and its interpretation, two traditions have been identified. The first is related to the use of this term, rather intuitively and metaphorically; the second, rooted in the research of Russian scientists of the early 20th century: V. M. Bekhterev, P. P. Viktorov, L. N. Voitolovsky and L. I. Petrazhitsky, - with the “psychologization” of social well-being
actions. Closer to everyday knowledge, without a serious theoretical basis, the first tradition of studying the concept of “human well-being” interprets it as “the state of a person’s physical and mental strength” as a whole, focusing rather on the existential, mental and moral state of a person.
The second tradition of interpreting social well-being in a psychological aspect considers it as a system of subjective sensations indicating one or another degree of physiological and psychological comfort. It includes both a general qualitative characteristic (positive, borderline, negative well-being) and private experiences, variously localized (discomfort in different parts of the body, difficulties in performing actions, difficulties in understanding).
In medicine and valeology, social well-being is interpreted as a subjective indicator reflecting the level of physical
O. N. Sunyakina, 2011
BULLETIN of Mordovian University | 2011 | No. 3
physical and mental capabilities of a person. Well-being is considered here as the totality of all the physiological sensations of an individual, the state of his health, which has a significant impact on human activity and the quality of well-being (positive, borderline, negative (pathological)).
The sociological tradition of studying social well-being developed approximately from the 1980s to the early 1990s, which were marked by the flourishing of empirical research in Russian sociology. However, most publications of this period are marked by an underestimation of the complex nature and apparent simplicity of the concept. Against this background, it is worth highlighting the research of L. Ya. Rubina and T. B. Beryadnikova, who connect social well-being with the reflection of the state of society in people’s consciousness and actions. A. S. Balabanov considers social well-being at the level of social figures [Cited from: 2, p. 117].
I. V. Okhremenko considers the phenomenon of social well-being as a special state of mass consciousness, as “... a socio-psychological state of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with social existence” [Cit. from: 1, p. AND].
G. M. Orlov understands social well-being as “... the initial and dynamic complex of an individual’s attitudes towards meaningful changes and transformations of his own life.” The author proceeds from the fact that methodological approaches to identifying the structure of well-being should involve an analysis of two main spheres of life: socio-economic and socio-political [Cit. from: 1, p. 12].
E.V. Tuchkov operationalized the concept of “social well-being,” which included an analysis of social tension, which he classified as “...an integral social phenomenon formed on the basis of people’s high dissatisfaction with their social, economic and political situation” [Cit . from: 1, p. 12]. He identified five blocks of social tension: economic, social, demographic, environmental and political, of which, according to expert assessment, in the conditions of the Center of Russia three are of predominant importance: economic, social and political. Specifying the composition of these blocks and studying regional differences in the corresponding indicators allowed E.V. Tuchkov to propose a system of maximum permissible values.
of regional indicators of social tension. Thus, we can talk not only about “performance”, but also about the effectiveness of using the concept of “social well-being” to analyze the phenomenon of social behavior.
In the concept of social mood, Zh. T. Toshchenko and S. Kharchenko consider social well-being as a basic element, the first level of social mood and includes “... actual knowledge, emotions, feelings, historical memory and public opinion.” Thus, they associated the essence of the concept of social well-being with the subjective reflection of a person’s sensory, mental and moral state, physical and mental capabilities. Based on this understanding of social well-being, O. L. Barskaya proposed the following typology of social well-being.
The first type of social well-being is defined by O. L. Barskaya as “career”. People belonging to this group expect career advancement, career And so on. There is a clear tendency for change in this type.
To the second type, called “mobilization,” the same researcher includes people who are in a state of expectation of change in combination with an idea of \u200b\u200bways to solve emerging problems.
The third type of social well-being is called “stability” by O. L. Barskaya. For its representatives, loss of their current job is unlikely, as well as occupation, entrepreneurship and career growth.
The fourth type of social well-being is “negative expectations.” This is the expected loss of work, as well as the opportunity and desire to start a business, the absence in the future positive changes
In Russian sociology, there are also several approaches that define social well-being as a person’s satisfaction with various aspects of life. Proponents of this approach view social well-being as a reflection of lifestyle. There is also an approach in which social well-being is considered as “...an integral characteristic of the implementation of an individual’s life strategy, attitude to the surrounding reality, and its subjective aspects.”
Nevertheless, social well-being is a rather complex indicator of social attitude, and it cannot be reduced solely to the level of income, to awareness
Series “Sociological Sciences”
identifying yourself as poor, middle-income or wealthy.
Ya. N. Krupets believes that to analyze social well-being, criteria should be identified that cover a wider range of indicators: 1) standard of living: income; financial situation, security; employment and unemployment; guarantee of social protection; free time, rest; parenting; 2) health status;
3) emotional and psychological state;
4) social self-perceptions: identification; state of comfort; social values; 4) level of anxiety and hope for help; 5) level of civic activity; 6) life strategies: survival; development, self-realization; well-being; integration of attitudes towards “strangers”; self-assessment of potential: professional, social experience, personal qualities. Each block ends with an assessment of the current life situation, making plans for the future in the future.
T. T. Tarasova, developing ideas about indicators of social well-being, identifies the following factors influencing social well-being - socio-economic, political, migration. Thus, in particular, the indicators of the socio-economic block of factors, in her opinion, reflect the level of social adaptation of the population to socio-economic and political transformations, the degree of satisfaction with the financial situation, the level of social optimism/pessimism also determines the rating of the most significant socio-economic and political problems. The political bloc makes it possible to assess the attitude of the population towards the main state institutions at the federal and regional levels, determine the political orientations of citizens [Cited from: 2, p. 118].
A person’s social well-being is determined by the degree to which his social needs are satisfied, which in turn are derived from the existing system of social goods in society, their production and distribution. The more a person feels a lack of social benefits, the worse his social well-being. It includes a wide range of factors: satisfaction with living conditions, people’s self-assessment of everyday mood, all kinds of current and future assessments economic situation countries, the material well-being of families, indicators of social optimism regarding the economic sphere, the political situation,
tions regarding the course of economic reforms, the degree of trust in leading political figures and political structures.
N.N. Kobozeva believes that the features of social well-being as a sociological concept consist of the following provisions. The first feature, in her opinion, is the predominance of the so-called external locus of control, in which people see the source of their experiences in the social environment. The state of social well-being depends on the individual’s self-esteem, assessment of one’s potential, one’s own material security and comparison of oneself with others.
The second feature is that the state of social well-being has an objective and subjective basis. The objective reflects aspects of the emotional-evaluative attitude of individuals to the system of existing social relationships and their social status, measured through the sufficiency/inadequacy of objective conditions for the realization of their own aspirations. The subjective basis reflects the individual’s perception of the well-being of his own life and is measured through satisfaction / dissatisfaction with his life achievements and living conditions. It defines social well-being as an organic combination of subjective and objective life factors, physiological and psychological capabilities of the individual, positive and negative conditions for the formation of a life strategy.
The third feature of the characteristics of social well-being is the dependence on external conditions and the internal state of a person, which explains1 the interaction
connection between social well-being and social adaptation. In the understanding of this researcher, social well-being is a factor and indicator of personality adaptation. A change in one entails changes in the other. This is the bivalence of the phenomenon being studied.
Thus, despite the lack of a clear definition of the concept of social well-being, it can be interpreted as a state of an evaluative nature, a subjective perception of reality and oneself in it regarding certain situations, problems, events occurring in the sphere of social life, i.e., where Motivational factors of behavior and action are most clearly manifested. The most significant for the analysis of social well-being are:
BULLETIN of Mordovian University J 2011 | No. 3
The following indicators are shown: 1) standard of living: income; financial situation, security; employment and unemployment; guarantee of social protection; quality of free time; 2) emotional and psychological state; 3) social
sense of self: identification; state of comfort; social values;
4) life and adaptation strategies;
5) self-assessment of potential: professional, social experience, personal qualities.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL LIST
1. Golovakha E. N. Integral index of social well-being of the population of Ukraine before and after the “Orange Revolution” / E. N. Golovakha, N. M. Panina // Vestn. societies, opinions. - 2005. - No. 6. - P. 10-15.
2. Kobozeva N. N. Social well-being as a sociological category / N. N. Kobozeva // Vestn. Stavropol state University [Stavropol]. - 2007. - No. 50. - P. 117-122.
3. Krupets Ya. N. Social well-being as an integral indicator of adaptation / Ya. N. Krupets // Socis. - 2004. - Lg ° 3. - P. 5-10.
4. Parygin B. D. Public mood / B. D. Parygin. - M.: Mysl, 1966. - 327 p.
5. Toshchenko Zh. T. Social mood - a phenomenon of modern sociological theory and practice / Zh. T. Toshchenko // Socis. - 1998. - No. 1. - P. 21-35.
Received 07/13/11.
TRAUMA OF SOCIAL CHANGES IN THE REPUBLIC OF MORDOVIA
N. Yu. Abudeeva, O. A. Bogatova
The article analyzes the consequences of post-Soviet social changes in the aspect of social pathologies, substantiates the relevance of the concept of “trauma of social changes” by P. Sztompka to the study of social development of the Russian region using the example of the Republic of Mordovia.
In sociology, social change refers to the transformations that occur over time in organizations, the structure of society, patterns of thinking, culture, and social behavior. This is a transition social object from one state to another; significant transformation of social organization, social institutions; growth of diversity of social forms, etc.
Changes are differences between what the system was in the past and what became of it after a certain period of time. “At one time, social change was idealized as undeniably positive, promoting progress. The experience of the twentieth century, having concentrated social change on an incredible scale, the present century of change, produces a different
impression" . This gave rise to the idea that variability itself could undermine the normal course public life, deal a kind of blow to members of society, cause stress and generate a state of a kind of trauma. Despite the obvious relevance, theoretical and practical significance of studying the trauma of social change, especially in the new conditions of development of Russian society, this concept is poorly developed in sociological science today.
The theory of traumatic social changes, applicable to former socialist countries, is developed in detail by one of the leaders of modern world sociology, the outstanding Polish scientist Piotr Sztompka. Signs of traumatic changes, according to Sztompka, are sharp, sudden
© N. Yu. Abudeeva, O. A. Bogatova, 2011
Series “Sociological Sciences”
In which country does the population live better - in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan or Ukraine? Is it possible to objectively answer this question? How to measure people's happiness level? How to translate human happiness and sorrow into digital expression? And what are the results of such measurements?
1. Introduction. Currently, research related to socio-economic diagnostics is gaining momentum. This process has most actively captured applied economics. Moreover, among economists there is already an understanding that indicators of the current economic situation make it possible to solve not only narrow practical problems, but also global tasks of generalizing the patterns of functioning of the national economy.
A typical example of large-scale activity in constructing annual economic indicators is the work of the rating agency Expert magazine, which, using the methodology it developed, annually assesses the investment rating of all regions of Russia. Such work provides information for comparing the investment climate across time and space. Characteristic feature practical work with investment ratings from the Expert magazine agency is that, despite the complexity of the statistical and methodological procedure for determining them, this does not prevent their use not only by private investors, but also by specialists of the Ministry economic development and trade of the Russian Federation.
Unfortunately, such work is not yet being carried out in sociology, although the practical need for it is felt more and more clearly. It is now quite obvious that all economic indicators of territorial development must be complemented by similar social indicators. Moreover, these social indicators should not represent statistical aggregates based on heterogeneous social statistics data, but quantitative estimates obtained by aggregating the results of sociological surveys. The point is that the social rating of a territory (country, region, city, etc.) should be an assessment of the social well-being of the population of this territory. Only this approach will allow us to move away from the scholasticism of an infinite number of poorly measured social statistical indicators and to reach a generalized self-assessment of the population of its own social status. Despite the subjective nature of such assessments, they will provide the most reliable and objective information about the social well-being of the population of the study area.
The current unsatisfactory state of affairs in the field of social monitoring is largely due to the fact that in sociology there are no generally accepted approaches to constructing appropriate social indicators that can act as social ratings. As I.V. Zadorin rightly noted, “applied sociologists, especially in the regions, use literature and methods that are 20-30 years old.” In fact, sociologists in their work continue to use primitive data on the proportion of respondents who chose one or another answer to a particular question. This approach can be considered quite justified when conducting one-time unique surveys. However, if surveys take the form of systematic monitoring and require comparisons across time and space, more sophisticated and specific analytical tools become necessary.
Currently, the idea of constructing comprehensive social indicators is already in the air. In this work we will try to bring this idea to its logical conclusion.
2. Algorithms for constructing indices of social well-being of the population. Currently, two approaches to constructing integral assessments of the social well-being of the population can be distinguished. Let's look at them in more detail.
The first approach is based on calculating the so-called satisfaction coefficient. In relation to the study of the problem of life satisfaction, this indicator represents the difference between the proportion of respondents who are generally satisfied with their life and the proportion of respondents who are generally dissatisfied with it. Sometimes the life satisfaction coefficient takes a graphical form and is “revealed” in the form of two histograms: the share of respondents who are generally satisfied with their life, and the share of respondents who are generally not satisfied with it. Comparing the heights of these columns allows us to position society from the position of the predominance of optimistic or pessimistic sentiments. However, this approach has a number of disadvantages.
Firstly, both the life satisfaction coefficient itself and both histograms are poorly normalized.
Secondly, both the life satisfaction coefficient and both histograms do not take into account at all the proportion of respondents who found it difficult to give a specific answer to the question posed. An increase in this proportion leads to automatic trimming of histograms, which leads to their poor normalization.
Thirdly, adding the shares of respondents who are completely satisfied with life with those who are more likely to be satisfied with it than not is not entirely correct, since here by default two completely different social groups. A similar procedure arises when adding groups of respondents who are completely dissatisfied with life with those who are rather dissatisfied with it than satisfied. This aggregation procedure itself has two disadvantages. Let's look at them.
The first drawback is due to the fact that adding two groups of respondents leads to a loss of accuracy of social diagnostics. For example, the first histogram may have the following structure: 5.0% of people who are completely satisfied with life; 45.0% of people who are more likely to be satisfied with it than not. The second histogram may have a completely different structure: 45.0% of people who are completely dissatisfied with life; 5.0% of people who are rather dissatisfied with it than satisfied. Even though these histograms are formally equal (50% each and the coefficient of life satisfaction is equal to zero), they have a completely incomparable structure and only disorient the researcher. The second drawback is related to the fact that when aggregating two groups, we lose a lot of important information, the receipt of which was originally included in the question and the structure of the answers to it. If it were necessary to obtain two histograms, then it would be possible to provide not four, but only two options for answering the question posed to the respondents.
Sometimes in applied research a modification of the satisfaction coefficient is used, which is sometimes called the satisfaction index and is calculated as the difference between the sum of positive and average ratings and the sum negative ratings. IN in this case the line of demarcation between positive and negative sentiments in society is defined in such a way that average ratings (neither good nor bad) complement the positive array. The rationale for this approach is the fact that average indicators act as evidence of a “not bad” state of affairs, a kind of stability. This method has all the same disadvantages as the usual satisfaction rate, some of them to an even greater extent.
The second approach to constructing integral assessments of the social well-being of the population, which allows one to avoid the listed shortcomings, is based on calculating the so-called satisfaction index. In relation to the problem of life satisfaction, this indicator represents the following construction J:
where i is the respondents’ answer to the question; n is the total number of provided options for answering the question; x i - the proportion of respondents who indicated the i-th answer option (in percentage); a i a i≤1).
However, design (1) also has a number of disadvantages. The main one is related to setting the weight coefficient a n for the last answer to the question. This option is standard for sociological surveys and accumulates a group of respondents who find it difficult to answer the question posed. In a simplified version, this coefficient is assigned zero weight a n= 0 . However, the same weight is assigned to a group of people who give a categorically negative answer (for example, they are completely dissatisfied with their life). This means that the two indicated categories of respondents are equated, which is unlawful, because undecided respondents, generally speaking, can be considered neither optimists nor pessimists. Under certain external influences, they can move to any group. Meanwhile, if this group is not reset to zero, then it is not clear what weight to assign to it. We will henceforth call this problem the “closing weight coefficient” problem.
Taking into account the above, it can be argued that index (1) gives systematically underestimated estimates of social well-being relative to their true value. Considering that the proportion of people who find it difficult to give a definite answer can in some cases be very significant, the distortion of the desired picture of the process can also be very significant. This is the main disadvantage of index (1).
How to eliminate this shortcoming?
To do this, you can use a slightly different methodology for diagnosing the social well-being of the population, which can be classified as two-parametric. Let's look at it in more detail.
The first parameter to be assessed, as in case (1), will be a certain adjusted index of social well-being I, calculated using the following formula:
where i is the respondents’ answer to the question; n is the total number of provided options for answering the question; a i- weight coefficient of the i-th answer option (0≤ a i≤1); zi is the adjusted proportion of respondents who indicated the i-th answer option (in percentage), which is calculated as follows:
Where x n- the share of respondents who indicated the final answer option (in percentage).
In accordance with methodology (2) and (3), social well-being is taken into account only in relation to decided respondents; Those who find it difficult to answer are generally discarded when determining the index (2). This approach is certainly justified, but the question of the legality of dropping the sampling element from consideration x n remains open. To eliminate this drawback, one more parameter can be introduced into consideration - the uncertainty index R = xn. This indicator diagnoses the degree of disorientation of respondents on the issue under consideration. Indeed, if the respondent cannot determine his state even at a qualitative level, then this indicates his complete disorientation regarding the events taking place. The larger the group of undecided respondents, the greater the risk that, under unfavorable circumstances, the group of people who gave a negative answer may be significantly replenished at the expense of the nth group. Thus, it is advisable to analyze the social well-being of the population using two indices (parameters) - the social well-being index I itself and the social uncertainty index R.
The introduction of a two-parameter procedure for diagnosing the social climate has a fairly clear analogy in economic science. Thus, in accordance with the classical theory of the main driving force capital, producing inter-industry, inter-country and inter-sectoral flows, is the rate of return on capital. This is the main financial indicator that forms a simple investment rule: the higher the rate of return, the greater the desire to invest capital in the corresponding event. However, modern financial theory supplements this indicator with another, no less important indicator - a risk indicator. There is a reverse motivation here: the greater the risk, the less incentive to invest capital in the corresponding event. In practice, market participants valuable papers, for example, the dispersion of financial asset quotes is used as a risk indicator. Moreover, the following dependence is typical for economic markets: the higher the rate of profit, the higher the risk. Thus, none of the considered indicators can be discarded when analyzing the investment climate.
In our case, the analogue of the rate of return indicator is the social well-being index I, and the analogue of the risk indicator is the social uncertainty index R. Moreover, the analogy between investment and social indicators turns out to be even deeper than one might expect. So, if in economics the parameters of financial capital are studied, then in sociology - the parameters of such a phenomenon as social well-being, which is one of the most important elements human capital. In addition, there is a clear analogy in the laws of formation of the investment and social situation. Thus, the basis of the movement of financial capital is such a fundamental but elusive concept as trust. At the heart of changes in social well-being lies an equally fundamental and elusive concept - mood. Both investor confidence and public sentiment belong to the class of, if not equivalent, then at least related concepts and are characterized by extreme volatility. Sometimes even a slight pressure from external factors can completely change their initial state: trust easily turns into suspicion and mistrust, and an optimistic mood quickly gives way to caution and pessimism.
Thus, the proposed two-parameter methodology for diagnosing the social well-being of the population, based on the assessment of the I and R indices, is in good agreement with the existing theoretical and practical standards in economics, which is currently the undisputed leader in the field of constructing analytical indicators.
However, despite all the advantages of the two-parameter method for diagnosing the social well-being of the population, one cannot fail to note its disadvantages. The main disadvantage is the need to track two different indices. Sometimes, when analysis occurs simultaneously in time and space, such a procedure becomes cumbersome. In this regard, it is quite legitimate to set the task of merging two indices into one, that is, into one that will be a kind of integral indicator that accumulates both aspects of the social well-being of the population. This can be done using the following generalized index of social well-being of the population D:
where k is the correction factor.
From (4) it is easy to see that when R→0 the difference between the three indices of social well-being is leveled out: D→I→J. Ideally, R=0 and D=I=J. Thus, there is methodological continuity between all three indices, which facilitates their practical use.
3. Testing the index of social optimism of the population. To illustrate the work of the indices D, I and J introduced into consideration, we will use the data of a sociological survey on the expectations of the population conducted by VTsIOM in April 2005 (Table 1).
Table 1. How will you and your family live in a year? % (April 2005).
| Possible answer | Russia | Kazakhstan | Belarus | Ukraine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Much better | 3,7 | 14,7 | 3,4 | 6,4 |
| 2. Somewhat better | 17,2 | 41,1 | 19,2 | 31,0 |
| 3. Same as now | 43,1 | 39,9 | 39,5 | 27,0 |
| 4. Somewhat worse | 20,0 | 3,2 | 9,9 | 10,0 |
| 5. Significantly worse | 4,0 | 0,9 | 2,5 | 4,2 |
| 6. I find it difficult to answer | 12,0 | 0,2 | 25,5 | 21,4 |
Based on Table 1, it is possible to construct an index of social optimism J with the following weighting coefficients: a 1=1,0; a 2=0,75; a 3=0,5; a 4=0,25; a 5=0; a 6=0 (group index numbers are indicated in Table 1). The values of the entire set of indices D, I and J are given in Table 2.
When calculating index D, the value of the correction factor k was taken equal to 0.001, that is, k=0.001. This value is due to the fact that great importance the uncertainty index without a correction factor leads to too much underestimation of the social optimism index. As a result of experimental calculations, the value k=0.001 was chosen as the most acceptable. Moreover, all indices of social optimism are normalized as follows: 0≤J,I,D≤100%. The closer the index value is to 100%, the more optimistic the population’s expectations. In addition, all indices have several critical points that help diagnose the current situation: values below 50% indicate the predominance of pessimistic sentiments; values above 50% indicate the predominance of optimistic moods; a deviation of the index below the 25 percent mark means an extremely unsatisfactory situation in the mood of the population; The index's rise above the 75 percent mark indicates the dominance of an optimistic view of the future among the population.
What conclusions can be drawn based on the calculated indices?
Firstly, there are enormous differences between the SES countries in terms of the uncertainty of the social situation. The difference between the R index for Kazakhstan and Belarus is 25.3 percentage points, which indicates the incomparability of the social climate in these countries. The complete misunderstanding of the social situation by the population of Belarus is opposed to the excellent social orientation of the population of Kazakhstan.
Secondly, the shift between the J and I indices can be quite significant. Thus, for Belarus it is 13.7 percentage points. Thus, the J index systematically underestimates the true values of social optimism, and the I index systematically overestimates them. The magnitude of the bias depends on the uncertainty index R.
Thirdly, the assessment of the indices J and I indicates the need to introduce into the analysis the uncertainty index R and the generalized index D. This is due to the fact that the indices J and I can fundamentally give different results. For example, according to the J index, Belarus ranks last after Russia, while recalculation according to the I index moves it to penultimate place before Russia. Consequently, the transition from one index to another can lead to recombination of elements of the system being studied and a change in their ranking system. In addition, the distortion of the original result can occur along one more line. Thus, in accordance with the J index, Belarus falls into the group of countries with a predominance of pessimistic sentiments of the population, while the I index moves it into the group of countries with a predominance of optimistic sentiments. Accordingly, the transition from one index to another can lead to a qualitative shift in the assessment of the society being studied.
Fourthly, the assessment of the generalized index of social optimism D allows us to diagnose the Common Economic Space as heterogeneous. This thesis should be explained in more detail.
The hierarchy according to the level of social optimism is as follows: Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia. Thus, among Russians, concern for the future is most clearly visible.
The revealed gap in the level of social optimism is quite significant. Thus, the difference between the corresponding indices for Kazakhstan and Russia is almost 20 percentage points. Such an advantage of one country over another should be classified as fundamental.
The entire SES country is divided into two groups: countries with the dominance of social optimism (Kazakhstan and Ukraine) and countries with the dominance of social pessimism (Belarus and Russia). Based on this feature alone, the SES should be recognized as socially heterogeneous.
The study showed that existing methods diagnostics of the social well-being of the population need significant improvement. One of the ways of such improvement could be the introduction into analytical practice of such additional measures as: unadjusted index of social well-being J; adjusted social well-being index I; uncertainty index R; generalized index of social well-being D. Testing of these tools using the example of social optimism indices shows that with their help it is possible to carry out a more subtle typology of the societies being studied and more sensitively capture shifts in people’s moods.
Literature
- “Confusion of positions undermines the reputation of sociology.” Conversation with I.V. Zadorin // “Monitoring of Public Opinion”, No. 2, 2004.
- Petukhov V.V. Russia, Belarus, Ukraine: what brings us together and what separates us? // “Monitoring of Public Opinion”, No. 2, 2004.
- Balatsky E.V. Social heterogeneity of a single economic space // “Monitoring of Public Opinion”, No. 2, 2005.
- As we thought in 2004: Russia is at a crossroads. M.: Eksmo Publishing House, Algorithm Publishing House. 2005.
Social well-being is a fairly capacious concept. In our opinion, it acts as an integrated indicator of the general satisfaction with the life of the population.
The article used sociological research, surveys in 2011–2015, conducted by scientists in the Arctic zone - primarily in the Arkhangelsk and Murmansk regions, and the Republic of Yakutia.
The population of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation (AZRF) is 2,378,234 people and tends to be in most regions and municipalities to decrease. In 2014 – 2016 the only exceptions were the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (NAO), Dolgano-Evensky municipal district, Arkhangelsk, Norilsk and Novaya Zemlya (see Table 1)
Table 1. Estimation of the permanent population of the land territories of the Arctic zone Russian Federation as of January 1, 2014-2016 (Human)
| № | Subject of the Russian Arctic | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
| Arctic zone of the Russian Federation | 2 400 580 | 2 391 631 | 2 378 234 | |
| 1 | Komi Republic | 84 707 | 82 953 | 81 442 |
| Vorkuta urban district | 84 707 | 82 953 | 81 442 | |
| 2 | The Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) | 26 447 | 26 194 | 26 107 |
| Allaikhovsky municipal district | 2764 | 2733 | 2682 | |
| Anabar national (Dolgano-Evenkinsky) municipal district | 3403 | 3387 | 3431 | |
| Bulugsky municipal district | 8507 | 8404 | 8366 | |
| Nizhnekolymsky municipal district | 4414 | 4426 | 4386 | |
| Ust-Yansky municipal district | 7359 | 7244 | 7242 | |
| 3 | Krasnoyarsk region | 228 493 | 227 205 | 227 546 |
| Urban district city of Norilsk | 177 326 | 176 971 | 178 106 | |
| Taimyr Dolgano-Nenets MR | 33 861 | 33 381 | 32 871 | |
| Turukhansky municipal district | 17 306 | 16 853 | 16 569 | |
| Arhangelsk region | 656 624 | 655 100 | 652 867 | |
| Urban district "Arkhangelsk" | 357 409 | 358 054 | 358 315 | |
| Urban district "Novaya Zemlya" | 2 530 | 2 841 | 3 024 | |
| Urban district "Novodvinsk" | 39 613 | 39 222 | 38 906 | |
| Urban district "Severodvinsk" | 188 420 | 187 277 | 186 138 | |
| Mezensky municipal district | 9 629 | 9 482 | 9 241 | |
| Onega municipal district | 32 968 | 32 272 | 31 456 | |
| Primorsky municipal district | 26 055 | 25 952 | 25 787 | |
| 5 | Murmansk region | 771 058 | 766 281 | 762 173 |
| 6 | Nenets Autonomous Okrug | 43 025 | 43 373 | 43 838 |
| 7 | Chukotka Autonomous Okrug | 50 555 | 50 540 | 50 157 |
| 8 | Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug | 539 671 | 539 985 | 534 104 |
Arkhangelsk scientists Dregalo A.A., Ulyanovsky V.I., Lukin Yu.F. in their research they use the concept of “northern man”, meaning by this a person of the sociocultural typology of Arctic identity and dividing him into two main types. First: the indigenous population - small-numbered peoples (SIPN) and old-timers. Second: the newcomer population with the first generation of migrants and shift workers. We find a philosophical interpretation of the northern Arctic man in the monograph by Yu.F. Lukina.
During territorial socialization, environmental identification of the population occurs (see Table 2).
Table 2. Environmental identity of the population of the Arkhangelsk region, (February-March 2012, n = 797)
Assessment of social well-being includes both self-assessment of the population and external assessment by experts, including using social indicators.
Analysis of social research, surveys, and questionnaires indicate the commonality of Arctic problems affecting the social well-being of the population and generating threats and socio-economic risks. Let's highlight the main ones.
Analytics and statistics indicate sub-zero social well-being of northerners in many respects. A sociological study in the Murmansk region in 2011-2013 showed that in the ranking of the most important problems, according to the population, the first place is occupied by the unsatisfactory quality of infrastructure (housing and communal services, roads, transport, healthcare, etc.). This opinion was expressed in 2011 by 31.6% of respondents, and in 2013 this proportion of dissatisfied people increased to almost 50% - 49.5%. Approximately the same situation is typical for other North Arctic territories.
People especially suffer from a lack of medical care in remote settlements. If in the administrative centers there are 139 doctors per 10,000 people in the city of Anadyr (Chukotka Autonomous Okrug), in the city of Salekhard (Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug) - 113.6, in the city of Murmansk (Murmansk region) - 75.1, in Naryan-Mar (Nenets Autonomous Okrug) - 63.5, then in the rest of the regions, respectively: 48.8; 42.6; 36.4; 35 doctors.
Social well-being, in our opinion, acts as an integrated indicator of the general satisfaction of the population. Therefore, the degree of human protection from various types of dangers seems important (see Table 3).
Table 3. Estimates by the population of the Murmansk region of the degree of protection from certain hazards in 2013,%
Among the dangers, respondents name poverty. Statistics show that there is a process of convergence between “regular” and Arctic wages, and at the same time, a downward trend is visible wages with sufficiently high prices rising (see Table 4).
Table 4. Ratio of nominal wages to the cost of living (in times)
Self-assessment of the financial situation of residents of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, % (January-February 2014, n=419) confirms the limited financial capabilities of a number of categories of the population of the oil region (NAO). Thus, 17% believe that there is only enough money to buy food, and 5% believe that there is not enough money even for food.
For Nenets living in mono-ethnic villages, the problem of poverty is even more acute. In the village of Indiga, the given indicator of extreme poverty is 26.5%, Nelmin Nos - 27.8%, Bugrino (Kolguev Island) - 42.1%, Krasnoye - 28.5%. For comparison: the same poverty rate in Naryan-Mar was 14.5%.
In 2013 - 2014, sociological studies conducted in the Murmansk region (assessments of the most important, in the opinion of the population, problems) and in the Arkhangelsk region (problems causing the greatest concern to the population) showed approximately the same ranking social problems that concern people (see Table 5).
Table 5. Estimates of the most important, according to the population, problems of the Murmansk region in 2013, %
| № | Indicator name | 2013 |
| 1 | Unsatisfactory quality of infrastructure (housing and communal services, roads, transport, etc.) | 49,5 |
| 2 | Corruption, bribery | 35,3 |
| 3 | Bad environment, pollution environment | 32,1 |
| 4 | Inflation (constant price increases) | 31,9 |
| 5 | Economic instability | 27,7 |
| 6 | Low standard of living, poverty | 26 |
| 7 | Inaccessibility of healthcare, poor quality medical services | 23 |
| 8 | Social vulnerability of citizens | 21,8 |
| 9 | Stratification of the population into “poor” and “rich” | 21,8 |
| 10 | Alcoholism on the rise | 21,8 |
In the Arkhangelsk region the picture is approximately similar:
1. Rising prices for food and goods;
2. Rising tariffs and decreasing quality of housing and communal services;
3. Small salary and pension;
4. Condition of roads;
5. Lack of decent work;
6. Quality of medical care;
7. Environmental pollution;
8. Social inequality and stratification of people by income level;
9. Decline of morals and culture.
10. Increase in alcoholism
At the same time, there is an originality arising from the peculiarities of the geo-economic development of the Arkhangelsk region. Considering that the Arkhangelsk region is not completely Arctic, the issue of salary and pension is quite acute. The vast territory of the region, its age (the first settlements date back to the 10th century, the activity of the Old Believers) added the problem of roads and a demanding attitude to culture and morals. Corruption ranks 13th with 12.8% of the votes. For comparison: high growth prices were noted by 65% of respondents.
Of undoubted interest is the study of the quality of life of northerners, conducted by a team of authors from Arkhangelsk scientific center Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2015 – 2016. (see table 6)
Table 6. Assessment of the quality of life of the population in the northern regions of Russia based on the results of an expert survey
| Karelia | Arkhangelskaya region | Nenets JSC | Yamalon- Nenets Autonomous Okrug | Sakha (Yakutia) | Kamchatsky edge |
|
| Income level of the region's population | 3,2 | 2,7 | 3,2 | 3,9 | 3,3 | 3,0 |
| Housing provision for the region's population | 3,1 | 3,4 | 2,4 | 3,3 | 4,0 | 3,0 |
| Possibility of placing children in kindergarten | 3,0 | 2,9 | 2,4 | 2,8 | 2,0 | 2,1 |
| Availability and quality of preschool, general and additional education in the region | 3,4 | 3,3 | 3,0 | 3,8 | 3,3 | 3,1 |
| Availability and quality vocational education in the region | 3,6 | 2,6 | 2,6 | 2,6 | 2,7 | 2,5 |
| Availability and quality of medical care in the region | 3,0 | 2,2 | 2,8 | 3,1 | 2,3 | 2,9 |
| Social security level (benefits, benefits, pension) population of the region | 2,6 | 2,5 | 3,2 | 3,9 | 3,3 | 2,9 |
| Work of housing and communal services: level of organization of heat supply | 3,2 | 2,8 | 3,0 | 4,0 | 3,7 | 2,7 |
| Work of housing and communal services: level of organization of power supply | 3,5 | 3,7 | 3,6 | 4,3 | 4,0 | 3,4 |
| Work of housing and communal services: level of organization of gas supply | 2,6 | 2,6 | 3,8 | 4,1 | 3,0 | 2,6 |
| Level of development of transport services for the population | 2,7 | 2,3 | 2,8 | 3,8 | 2,3 | 2,0 |
| Security of the region highways, quality of road surface | 2,1 | 1,7 | 2,8 | 3,5 | 1,7 | 1,8 |
| Available in the region entertainment opportunities, leisure activities, sports | 3,6 | 2,4 | 3,2 | 3,3 | 2,7 | 3,4 |
| Environmental situation in the region | 3,7 | 2,4 | 3,0 | 4,0 | 3,3 | 4,0 |
| Level of crime in the region | 3,6 | 2,7 | 3,8 | 3,8 | 2,3 | 3,6 |
| Prosperity of the region's population cellular communications, internet, satellite television | 4,4 | 3,4 | 3,6 | 3,4 | 3,0 | 2,9 |
| Possibility of receiving municipal services on the “one window” principle, incl. at the MFC | 3,2 | 2,3 | 3,6 | 2,8 | 2,7 | 2,0 |
| Level of corruption in the region | 2,8 | 2,1 | 3,0 | 2,9 | 2,0 | 2,5 |
| Quality of work of regional employment services | 2,9 | 2,6 | 3,4 | 3,4 | 2,7 | 3,1 |
| Quality of provision of tourist services for travelers in the region | 3,3 | 2,6 | 2,8 | 2,7 | 2,3 | 2,5 |
| Final expert assessment quality of life of the population in the region | 3,2 | 2,7 | 3,1 | 3,5 | 2,8 | 2,8 |
| Ranks | 2 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
Let's note the leaders and outsiders among the regions. The first places in the ranking were taken by the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the Republic of Karelia. We especially highlight that in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and Karelia the most favorable environmental situation, as well as such important indicators as income levels (especially in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug), accessibility and quality of education, work, and housing and communal services played a role in the leadership of these regions. In last place is the Arkhangelsk region. Out of 21 positions, the region scored more than 3 points in only three positions. This is the provision of housing, accessibility and quality of education, and the provision of cellular communications.
And in general, the regions scored about 3 or less units in such important sections as the level of transport services and the provision of roads, the possibility of placing children in kindergarten, the availability and quality of vocational education, and the level of social security.
Social well-being is largely determined by how harmonized ethnonational processes are. About 250 thousand representatives of indigenous peoples of the North (IMNS) live in the Arctic from the Kola Peninsula to the Far East. Industrial and transport development of Arctic territories poses a threat to the reduction of traditional sectors of the economy (reindeer husbandry, fishing, hunting), and therefore leads to a decrease in the standard of living of ethnic groups. In this regard, the adoption of additional regulations at the federal and regional levels is required.
Russians in the Arctic, unlike the aborigines, are not given special rights to fishing, hunting, or land. It is no coincidence that VTsIOM survey data show that from 1999 to 2013. The number of people who believe that the interests of Russians are less protected than representatives of other ethnic groups has almost doubled (from 18 to 36%).
There is a tendency for the languages of small peoples to disappear, even as their numbers increase. Thus, the number of Nenets for 1926 - 2010 increased by 2.4 times and amounted to 44,640 people. And according to the 2010 census, less than half speak the Nenets language - 19,567 Nenets.
The noted disruptions in the mechanism of social well-being of the population return in the form of economic losses and social risks. The leader of losses is population decline - not only natural, but especially migration.
Only in 2001 - 2015. more than 10% of the population lost - the Komi Republic (17.1%), Arkhangelsk region (14.2%), Murmansk region (14.2%), Chukotka Autonomous Okrug (11.8%).
Among the reasons for possible migration to another region, the predominant ones are not natural and climatic, but in the aggregate socio-psychological and socio-economic. They make up 55.8% of those who expressed a desire to leave in the Arkhangelsk region, 62.4% in the Murmansk region, and 56.0% in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (NAO). (For more specific details on the Murmansk and Arkhangelsk regions, see).
More than half of the respondents (60%) have lived in the Murmansk region for over a quarter of a century. About 20% of the population are completely satisfied with their living in this region. Those who are generally satisfied with their living in the Murmansk region, but who are not satisfied with many things - 40%. Every 4th potential migrant lives in Murmansk. Main reasons for leaving: along with unfavorable climatic conditions, this is anxiety about your health and the health of your children, low earnings. Of the total number of people wishing to move, 15% are pensioners. But the majority of people of working age (31.8% are men and 53% are women) have a high level of education: 43.9% have higher education; 24.2% - secondary vocational.
An almost similar picture with a decrease in population due to a negative migration balance is observed in the Arkhangelsk region. Thus, from 2006 to 2015, the share of migration loss in the overall population decrease increased from 58.7% to 86.7%. In other words, during this period the negative balance annually fluctuated between 5.8 thousand and 10.2 thousand people per year. As in the composition of Murmansk migrants, the share of pensioners is insignificant - 10.3%, while the share of able-bodied people prevails - 71.8%. In terms of gender, migrant women from the Arkhangelsk region dominate - 53.5%.
Sociologists also call the city attractiveness index the reasons for leaving. Among individual cities, Naryan-Mar, Murmansk and Severodvinsk have the highest average attractiveness index. Apatity is slightly inferior to them. Residents of Arkhangelsk, Severomorsk and Kandalaksha consider their cities least attractive. The position of Arkhangelsk in the ranking of cities is curious. In terms of educational potential, it is noticeably ahead of northern cities, but inferior to them in terms of earning money and building a career. Arkhangelsk residents also rated the conditions for raising children and maintaining health significantly lower than their neighbors in the region.
In studies and measurements of the social well-being of the population of the Arctic, poverty is noted in the first positions. IN last decade In addition to poverty (the maximum critical indicator is the seven percent share of the population with incomes below the subsistence level), the excessive stratification of the North Arctic society by income was added: 1) the acceptable maximum critical indicator of the fund ratio in world practice is 8:1; 2) the permissible maximum critical indicator of the Ginny coefficient is 0.3. In the regions of the North, these standards are radically exceeded (see Table 7)
Table 7. Economic factors of social risk in the regions of the North
| Subject of the federation | Income ratio 10% richest and 10% the poorest groups population | Gini coefficient (degree of deviation of actual distribution of cash income from equal distribution |
| Republic of Karelia | 11,6 | 0,371 |
| Komi Republic | 16,9 | 0,423 |
| Arkhangelsk region, on NAO | 13,2 | 0,389 |
| Nenets JSC | 19,9 | 0,445 |
| Murmansk region | 13,8 | 0,398 |
| Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug | 19,1 | 0,429 |
| Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug | 14,2 | 0,440 |
| Chukotka Autonomous Okrug | 15,9 | 0,415 |
| Kamchatka Krai | 12,4 | 0,381 |
| Magadan Region | 15,9 | 0,415 |
| Sakhalin region | 15,5 | 0,411 |
| Tyva Republic | 11,9 | 0,375 |
| Krasnoyarsk region | 17,0 | 0,424 |
Poverty and excessive income stratification hinder the development of the “northern man” and the realization of his basic values that express the meaning of people’s lives. According to a survey of the population of the Arkhangelsk region and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug in February-March 2012, the first eleven basic values were ranked as follows:
1. Happy family life
2. Health (physical and mental)
3. Financially secure life (no financial difficulties)
4. Having good and loyal friends
5. Self-confidence
6. Love (spiritual and physical intimacy with a loved one)
7. Interesting job
8. Active, active life
9. Freedom (autonomy, independence of judgment and evaluation)
10. Life wisdom (maturity of judgment and common sense achieved through life experience)
11. Development (work on yourself)
To summarize, we emphasize: gaps in the socio-economic policy of the Center and the regional authorities of the Arctic zone are fraught with the accumulation of social pessimism and social apathy, which creates the preconditions for the emergence of social groups antagonistic to each other.
The article mainly uses research data from 2012-2016. This does not reduce the reliability and relevance of the findings. Economic recession 2013-2016 was accompanied by a reduction in income and wages for the vast majority of workers, a compression of social space, and thus undoubtedly affected the social well-being of the Arctic population.
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The study of the respondents’ social and labor relations was not a special purpose of the study, but was considered as an aspect of their social status and one of the components of overall satisfaction with living conditions and social well-being. By occupation, respondents were distributed as follows: workers - 8.3%, pensioners - 26%, office workers - 29.7%, housewives - 4.7%, specialists in various industries - 11.3%, unemployed - 1%, entrepreneurs - 3.3%, military personnel - 0.7%, students - 0.8%. The largest number of respondents worked or are working in industrial sectors (29.3%): service sector (14.7%), education, science (15.7%), healthcare (7.3%), etc.
The respondents were asked to express their attitude towards the possible loss of their job. It turned out that 24% of respondents expressed concern about this prospect, i.e. about a quarter of respondents. A slightly different perspective opens up when one gets acquainted with the distribution of answers from representatives of various socio-professional groups. Workers in the extractive industries, social services, culture and art, office workers and military personnel expressed the greatest concern about losing their jobs. Entrepreneurs and construction workers feel most confident in this regard. Among people with different levels of education, the expectation of job loss is typical for people with higher and secondary specialized education (31.7%). It is interesting that among men and women the share of pessimists in assessing labor prospects is almost the same.
Only 14% of respondents are ready to acquire a new profession if they lose their job. This differs significantly from the data of an all-Russian survey conducted by the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation, according to which, if they lose their job, every second person considers it acceptable to retrain and master a new profession. The reason for the discrepancy lies, apparently, in the level of education and social prestige of existing professions. The concept of “social and everyday status of an individual” has acquired in the current crisis conditions an unprecedented significance and urgency. In sociology, social status is understood as an integrative indicator reflecting, in the sense of equality or inequality with other subjects of social interaction. The everyday aspect of status records the measure of social well-being and material security of a subject - in comparison with similar indicators of other subjects.
The analysis of the standard of living was based on subjective indicators, in other words, the self-perception and self-esteem of individuals. In the questionnaire, the population was stratified into three main groups according to their standard of living: those who consider themselves a) quite well off, b) moderately well off, c) poorly off. 5.3% classified themselves in the first group, 40.7% in the second group, and 47% in the third group.
Status groups appear in a slightly different light when they are built taking into account factors such as occupation or education. There are completely no well-off people among housewives and the unemployed. Among workers, only 6.3% reported full security. According to subjective self-assessment, the largest number of wealthy people are among pensioners - 31.3%. Apparently, this is explained both by the size of pensions and by the insignificant level of aspirations of people of retirement age. In this regard, it is interesting that among entrepreneurs only 12.5% considered themselves quite wealthy.
Significant differentiation in pension amounts, as well as a number of other socio-economic and psychological factors, have led to the fact that pensioners are also leaders in the group of low-income people. They are followed by employees and workers.
Among persons with higher education 50% of respondents consider themselves wealthy, 12.5% with secondary and specialized secondary education, and 25% with primary and incomplete secondary education.
Also of interest is the answer to question 6 of the survey: “Approximately what percentage of your family’s budget goes to foodstuffs"It turned out that 16.7% of respondents spend up to 50% of the family budget on food, 36.3% - up to 70-80%, 47% - up to 90. Thus, the percentage of residents who spend their money mainly on food is fully consistent percentage of low-income people.Such a correlation, of course, reflects the objective state of affairs.
One of the most important indicators of a respondent’s social and living status is housing conditions. A third of respondents expressed dissatisfaction with their housing.
The variety of specific living conditions of many individuals complicates comparative sociological analysis and assessment of the social status of certain groups and categories of the population. Monitoring observation and prolonged analysis of the dynamic characteristics of social processes according to standard indicators (employment, level of profitability, property status, etc.) are necessary. However, even a one-time slice used in this survey allows us to draw some conclusions.
The contradiction between professional status and level of profitability seems obvious. The fact that half of the district's population considers itself to be low-income groups potentially poses a threat of social or socio-psychological conflict. This situation must be carefully analyzed and taken into account by the district leadership when making management decisions.
The standard of living, the conditions of social existence, refracted and reflected in the consciousness of the individual, give rise to a wide range of experiences, attitudes, and motives that stimulate the active social activity of the subject. The most directly conscious reaction of a subject to specific conditions of life is the phenomenon of satisfaction - a state of balance between requirements, environmental conditions and the intentions and expectations of a subject included in the system of social interaction. By its psychological nature, satisfaction is an emotional-evaluative attitude of an individual or group towards the achieved social status and the prospects for its changes. Being closely connected with the range of life needs of the subject, the feeling of satisfaction at the same time has a certain independence from them. It is influenced by fluctuations in mass sentiment, psychological stereotypes, and the state of public opinion.
The phenomenon of a subject’s social well-being is characterized by even deeper emotional and psychological properties. In psychology, it is interpreted as a feeling of physiological and psychological comfort (discomfort) of a person’s general internal state, as a measure of his satisfaction with his situation and relationships with other people, the experience of the availability (inaccessibility) of basic goods that provide vital needs. The complexity and multicomponent nature of this phenomenon encourages the researcher, in the process of analysis, to “split” it into its main elements, inviting the respondent to evaluate each of them separately. A number of such empirical indicators were included in the questionnaire.
First of all, respondents were asked to determine the level of their life satisfaction according to the following criteria:
Quite satisfied;
Not fully;
Not satisfied;
Hard to say.
Summarized answers to this question are contained in the appendix. 13.3% of respondents considered themselves completely satisfied, and 48.7% considered themselves not fully satisfied. Dissatisfied with life - 20.3%. Among those dissatisfied with their lives, the largest share is occupied by pensioners, office workers, and people with low incomes.
The fourth question of the questionnaire revealed the problems that most concerned respondents. For 47% of respondents, the most pressing problem is “lack of money.” 30% are concerned about “poor health.” Next comes the housing problem and lack of garden plot. Up to 10% of respondents experience difficulties in family and raising children.
It was proposed to identify factors that most negatively affect mood. The economic indicator again comes first - the high cost of food and industrial goods. The respondents also expressed concern about the dirt on the streets, the functioning of public transport, and the criminal situation. At the same time, ecological problems, foul language in public places has virtually no effect on the mood of residents. Apparently this is due to the fact that in crisis period People's attention is focused on survival, and environmental and ethical factors fade into the background in their minds.
The anxiety indicator analyzes in relation to manifestations of crime. Respondents were asked to answer the question: “Are you afraid of being attacked?”
On the street;
In public places;
The respondents considered the street to be the most dangerous in terms of crime. In public places and at home, most residents feel fairly protected.
An important indicator The health of society is the presence and diversity of social contacts. As a rule, in favorable conditions they grow; in difficult times, people’s attention and energy are directed mainly to themselves and their family.
The study showed that for the majority of respondents, the circle of acquaintances is limited to neighbors on the landing. There are practically no contacts with other residents of the microdistrict. The exceptions are housewives, military personnel and entrepreneurs, whose circle of acquaintances is more extensive.
The questionnaire asked about willingness to provide services to housemates (48). In general, the degree of such readiness can be assessed as low. About 15% of respondents expressed their willingness to provide free childcare and grocery shopping. A small number of respondents expressed a desire to help with cleaning the apartment, repairing electrical appliances, doing laundry, and other household problems: from 3 to 8%. However, the form of assistance (free or for a fee) did not have a significant impact on the results. It is interesting that among pensioners only 1-2% of respondents expressed their willingness to provide paid services to their housemates, i.e. such activities are not considered as an additional source of income.
At the same time, many residents of the district are psychologically inclined to expand contacts. Answering the question: “What events held in the municipal district would you be happy to take part in?” respondents name such collective actions as landscaping, sports competitions, community clean-up days, various kinds of holidays and folk festivals.
For the purpose of a more differentiated analysis of the causes of anxiety associated with raising children, the following answer options were proposed:
Health status;
Schooling;
Having bad habits;
Future Employment;
Admission to a university or technical school.
Regardless of the level of wealth of families, the greatest concern is the health and employment of children. It is significant that for the majority of parents surveyed, their children’s studies, as well as their bad habits, are not factors of concern.
When assessing the general psychological mood and feeling of comfortable life, it is important to take into account the answers to question 18 of the questionnaire: “How would you describe your house, yard, neighborhood?”
When characterizing a home, the respondents' predominant definitions are those with a positive emotional connotation: “bright”, “own”, “order”, “cozy”, “satisfaction”.
In assessing the yard, mostly positive terms are also used, however, about a third of the respondents use the definition “uncomfortable”, “chaos”, and 27% of the yard inspires anxiety. The description of the microdistrict is approximately the same.
It should be noted that these estimates vary significantly across different socio-professional groups. When military personnel assess the neighborhood, negative characteristics predominate; more than 63% of them said that the yard gives them anxiety. Meanwhile, students use exclusively positive terms in their descriptions. Housewives rate the condition of their neighborhood much higher than their own yard. When describing a house, yard, and neighborhood, workers equally use the concepts of “chaos” and “restlessness.”
Summarizing the answers to these questions, it is necessary to emphasize that despite the significant difficulties noted by the respondents, 62% of them are completely or partially satisfied with their lives. This situation can be described as social tolerance.
End of work -
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Introduction: regional models of social protection of the population: problems, technologies
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Tatarstan took first place among the regions of the Russian Federation in the ranking of social well-being prepared by the Civil Society Development Fund (FoRGO). The leaders are also the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the Tyumen Region. The outsiders are residents of Tver and the Yaroslavl region.
What indicators determine social well-being?
Social well-being is people’s emotional assessment of their social status, the level of satisfaction of socio-economic and spiritual needs.
The social well-being of the population is based on protection from dangers:
Racial,
Political,
Religious persecution
Crime,
The arbitrariness of officials
Ecological disasters.
Social well-being is also determined by life satisfaction and social optimism.
About the state of affairs in the region (assessment of the general situation in the region - are there any positive or negative changes in life)
On dissatisfaction with the regional leadership (evaluation of the work of governors and officials)
On participation in protests (the degree of dissatisfaction with the authorities and readiness to participate in demonstrations and protests).
The rating of social well-being of Russian regions is based on the results of surveys of residents about the situation in their regions and does not take into account the opinions of experts. Regions that received a score above 65 points are included in the first group “very high rating”, from 65 to 55 points - in the second group “high rating”, from 55 to 45 points - in the third group “average rating”, less than 45 points - into the fourth group “rating below average.”
ForGO used data from the Georating survey of the Public Opinion Foundation, which was conducted April 15-28, 2014 among 65.5 thousand respondents in all regions except Crimea and Sevastopol. The first rating of social well-being was released in August 2013.
Which regions have a high level of social well-being?
- place - Tatarstan (95 points)
2nd place - Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (93 points)
- place - Belgorod region (92 points)
- place - Tyumen region (92 points)
- place - Chechnya (90 points)
- place - Kemerovo region (87 points)
- place - Moscow (85 points)
- place - Krasnodar region (83 points)
- place - Kaluga region (82 points)
- place - St. Petersburg (76 points)
The group of regions with a fairly high rating included Kemerovo, Kaluga, Samara, Amur, Nizhny Novgorod, Voronezh, Magadan, Vladimir, Moscow and Novosibirsk regions, Krasnodar Territory, Chechnya, the republics of Bashkiria, Komi, Tyva and Buryatia.
In which regions do residents feel the worst?
The worst situation with the social well-being of the population is in the Tver, Yaroslavl, Arkhangelsk, Ryazan regions and Karelia. This is caused by a number of reasons, including:
Low level of socio-economic development,
The population's distrust of the government,
The growth of protest sentiments.
The list of outsiders included the following five regions:
79-80 place - Karelia (45 points)
79-80 place - Ryazan Oblast(45 points)
81-82 place Arkhangelsk region (43 points)
81-82 place - Yaroslavl region (43 points)
83rd place - Tver region (42 points)