Together with the sociologists of the Levada Center, we continue to work on the psychological portrait of our society. And today we are trying to figure out who we (mostly) trust.
The leader of the poll is the President of Russia: he is trustworthy according to 79% of respondents*. Next come the church and the army, 54 and 53% of citizens, respectively, declared their trust in them. The authority of the state security agencies is high: 46% of Russians trust them. At the bottom of the list were the police (21%) and local authorities (27%).
So, most of us trust the president we only see on TV every day. According to psychologist Alexander Asmolov, this is a characteristic feature of our consciousness. “We have faith in the tsar-priest,” he says. — It can change the focus, the application, but it is always saved. And, apparently, the dream of a cult of personality is also embedded in our mentality, which remains authoritarian.” The idea of the authoritarian nature of our consciousness is confirmed by trust in the church and the army. These are hierarchical structures that best fit a «vertical» value system.
- We can understand our fears
The figures of another survey are also indicative, on trust no longer in social institutions, but in other people**. Only 2,8% of those who answered questions from sociologists said that people can be trusted almost always. And 68,2% are convinced that caution is needed in relationships. In other words, more than two-thirds of Russians do not trust those around them.
“We live in a constant sense of danger, we see strangers everywhere,” notes Alexander Asmolov. – And “alien” is not in the sense of ethnicity. Anyone can turn out to be a stranger: it is enough to express “the wrong views”, to commit “the wrong act”. This total lack of trust provokes constant tension, suspicion of other people and self-doubt. Of course, this is a situation of mass neurosis.
Aleksey Levinson, head of social and cultural research at the Levada Center, points to another danger. “Who is left to trust when the president is far away, and neither the police, nor the local authorities, nor the first person you meet can be trusted? he muses. — Only to those closest to you. And when the country, as it turns out, is «surrounded by enemies,» the value of «ours» especially increases. It’s a big problem when there is no one else to trust. Work “through insiders” is one of the main mechanisms for the reproduction of corruption.”
- Are we raising sociable children?
Trust in social institutions and in each other is a sign of a democratic and healthy society. Alas, so far this trust is clearly not enough for us.
* The survey was conducted on September 19–22, see the website for more details ** The survey was conducted by the Levada Center in July 2014.