In Russia, according to all surveys, there is a low level of subjective well-being and life satisfaction. Why? This question was the subject of a meeting at the Gaidar Foundation, which was attended by sociologists Christian Welzel and Alexei Levinson and psychologist Lyudmila Petranovskaya. Here are some ideas that might bring us closer to the answer.
Christian Welzel, sociologist and political scientist, professor at the Laboratory for Comparative Social Research, National Research University Higher School of Economics (St. Petersburg), Vice President of the World Values Survey Association
Russia in our surveys occupies an exceptional position. We operate in over 100 countries. What we see here, we have not seen in any other country in the world. In 1982, the average level of life satisfaction was 7,5. It was at the level of West Germany. By 1995, it had dropped to 4,0, already on par with Zimbabwe and Iraq. Since then, it has risen slightly, but has not yet returned to its previous level. In 1995, happy (quite or very) was 30%. This curve follows the GDP change curve. Knowing the level of a country’s GDP, it is possible to predict with 80 percent probability how happy its inhabitants are.
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But there are two groups of countries in the world where this ratio, this dependence is systematically violated. The first group is Latin American countries. In these societies, citizens turn out to be happier than one might think, looking at their level of well-being. The second group is all post-Soviet societies, including Russia. They are less happy than their level of GDP would suggest.
There are two explanations for these deviations: national pride and religiosity. The population of all Latin American countries is very religious. And in all these societies there is a clearly expressed national pride. These factors act as buffers that mitigate the effect of low income on happiness. On the other hand, the post-Soviet countries were just distinguished by a low level of national pride and religiosity: they lost the Soviet empire, ended up on the side of the losers, or at least perceived themselves that way. And religiosity, of course, was also at a very low level after 70 years of Soviet power. So, just at the moment when the GDP collapsed, two buffers – religiosity and national pride – were absent in Russia.
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Lyudmila Petranovskaya, psychologist, blogger, family organization specialist, author of several books, including “What to do if…” (“World of Avanta+ Encyclopedias”, 2014)
In Russia, there are different attitudes towards the two meanings of happiness. There is an acute happiness associated with personal events. In addition, there is such happiness as “everything is fine with me, I am successful, everything is successful, everything is better than average for me” and “I am satisfied, I do not mind, I do not resent.” In the West, it is taboo to admit that you have misfortune, you feel bad, you have grief. In Russia, it’s rather the opposite, it’s taboo to recognize success, that everything is fine with you, everything is in order. We will look askance at a person who tells how wonderful he is and how wonderfully everything turned out for him. Each culture has its own ideas about what can threaten a person, and about where these threats come from. These are important differences. If the culture is competitive, then the threat is felt from the same as you: it is scary to show weakness, because the weak are eaten. Therefore, whether you feel bad or good, you grit your teeth and must portray “I’m fine.” And in Russia, the threat comes not from competitors, but from scissors cutting from above. And therefore it is necessary to portray the weak: if you pretend to be very successful, then they will “cut” you. Therefore, answers about happiness are very dependent on what is generally accepted to demonstrate.
There is such an external layer in which everything seems to be fine. People say: “What do you not like, what is wrong? Life is getting better, the fountain beats … ”But at the same time there is an intuitive feeling that we are all losers. We all screwed up. We didn’t do anything. We did not use the unique opportunities that expensive oil gave us in any way. There are no reforms, there is no economy, there is really no social fabric, little depends on people. It seems to me that now many people live in this split consciousness, with a painful feeling of internal cognitive dissonance. Now the most important association with Russia is a train rushing into the abyss. And, sitting in this train, we can say: “What soft chairs! Learned to do! The air conditioner works so well! And the lunch was delicious!” It is possible to displace or not to displace the feeling that the train is going nowhere, but this dissonance definitely does not contribute to happiness.
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Aleksey Levinson, sociologist, head of the sociocultural research department of the Levada Center
It is important to point out two things. The growth of well-being, which undoubtedly exists, does not suit the Russians. People are not satisfied with their economic situation. Why is it so? Because with all the growth, two things are not fulfilled. First, strictly speaking, welfare has not reached the level of the end of the Soviet era. The purchasing power of pensions is still less than in the last Soviet years. And one more extremely important thing that many people forget: there is no stability. By stability, Russian citizens understand not the stability of the political system, in which they are quite sure, but the stability of prices. I want to remind you that on a spoon, for example, the price of 7 kopecks was stamped: it was the same attribute of a spoon as its manufacturer. Prices did not change, it was a constant of life. For many, changing this position means that nothing can be hoped for, relied on, because prices will rise. These are two factors due to which the feeling of happiness does not come.
And one more thing that concerns the mood: not the one that people report about, but the one that they really have. Personally, I am very depressing about the condition that is considered normal for most of my compatriots, especially women. This is a state of some irritation, dissatisfaction with the way life is going, what kind of people are around, how relatives behave, how children behave, and so on. It cannot be that everyone is dissatisfied with others! So, it’s not about how people really relate to each other. It seems to me that in our society, a person’s defensive reaction is a bad mood. A person who is in a bad mood has more rights (well, like a sick person) than a person with a good one – “Why are you smiling?”. It is indecent for a normal person to say that everything is fine with him. And if you make it so that you should feel sorry for me (I don’t have very good health, and at work …), then I’m a person, and you respect me. This is disgusting, sir!
The main ideas:
- Satisfaction among Russians is less than one would expect based on GDP figures. This is because Russia has low levels of religiosity and national pride, two factors that mitigate the effect of low income on happiness. (Christian Welzel, sociologist)
- In Russia, it is not customary to demonstrate success and happiness, because someone who looks very successful can be “cut” from above. (Lyudmila Petranovskaya, psychologist)
- People are not satisfied with their economic situation because they do not feel stable. In addition, a bad mood in our society is a defensive reaction: a person with a bad mood has more rights, he is more respected. (Alexey Levinson, sociologist)
The meeting took place on October 1, 2014 at the Mart Club as part of the series of public discussions “The Scale of Values”. More details on the website gaidarfund.ru