At least more than a couple of years ahead. Why is this happening and is there a way to change the situation? Numbers and comments.
We continue to draw a psychological portrait of our society. Today, together with Lev Gudkov, director of the Levada Center, we find out if our compatriots can see into the future. This is not about clairvoyance, but about the ability to plan your life. “How many years ahead can you confidently talk about your future?” The answers to this question have not changed much in 10 years.
In this year’s survey, only 5% of participants said they see their lives many years ahead.1. 16% are confident in their future for 5–6 years or more. 33% – for a year or two. But the most popular option: “I don’t know what will happen to me even in the coming months” was chosen by 46% of respondents.
“It must be admitted that the time horizon of Russians is extremely limited and most of us have no image of the future,” comments Lev Gudkov. – In many ways, this situation was the result of the collapse of the Soviet system with its albeit forced, but optimism and albeit a poor, but guaranteed existence. With the collapse of this system, a huge number of people were disoriented. However, these perceptions vary greatly depending on age and social class. Lev Gudkov notes that young people and residents of large cities look more confidently into the future. “Optimism is higher for those who have high qualifications, a good level of education, who know how to learn and change along with the situation, the sociologist emphasizes. – But in the provinces, in small towns that have traditionally preserved the Soviet way of life, the majority do not have such resources. There are strong depressive moods, a feeling of lack of prospects.”
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Another important source of the ability to imagine one’s life years ahead and look into the future with optimism Lev Gudkov calls trust. “Of course, it is impossible to compare the results of the Levada Center polls directly with the results of foreign colleagues,” he emphasizes. “Nevertheless, if you look at foreign studies, the level of optimism about the future and the ability to plan are directly related to the development of the economy and trust in social institutions, and in people too.” Above all, this trust is in the Scandinavian countries and in Germany. Hence – rationalization, calculation, the habit of being responsible for one’s life and counting everything for many years to come. As we move south, sociologists record a decrease in the level of trust and an increase in the irrationality, unpredictability of life. “In southern countries, only traditional communities, families, and neighbors enjoy trust,” says Lev Gudkov. “And Russia in this sense is increasingly becoming a southern country, in terms of confidence in the future, located somewhere between Mexico and Argentina.” It is a pity that not in terms of the average annual temperature or the ability to play football.
1 Details on the site levada.ru