World we live in

TREND

Measure of responsibility

Environmental issues are regularly featured in international and national public opinion polls. In the world today, “very concerned about climate change” 37% of respondents. This is slightly less than before the economic crisis (41%), but still much more than in Russia (16%). We are concerned not so much with global climate problems as the worsening situation where we live and work: uncleaned streets (51%), air pollution (39%) and water (36%). Despite serious concern, only 19% of Russians name the environment among the most acute problems; only 4% are really engaged in nature protection, and only 6% would like to watch TV programs about the performances of the greens.

“For most of us, environmental issues are abstract and not directly related to everyday life. Therefore, we are, by and large, indifferent to them – there are much more pressing concerns that concern everyone. But even if we care about what happens to nature, it does not change anything in our behavior.

If you teach people for a long time that their actions do not lead to anything, and what is happening is not connected with their actions, but with the will of some higher power (bosses, government), then they expect actions from this higher power, even in those issues that could decide for themselves. This phenomenon is called “learned helplessness”: after several attempts, which did not lead to any positive results, a person feels his own powerlessness. Since it is useless to make efforts, it remains only to passively observe. Learned helplessness in our society develops in every generation. There were only very short periods of time when, on the whole, conditions conducive to a sense of control over events dominated: the end of the 80s, perestroika, perhaps the 20s of the last century.

Another feature of ours is that the bad for us is the norm. Starting point. It is not normal for a European to live badly, it should not be like this, it must be changed. But we are used to: we lived somehow and will survive somehow. It is a question of the lack of value – the value of life and personality.”

PSYCHOLOGIES SURVEY

From words to deeds

In assessing the environmental situation, the opinion of our readers generally coincides with the opinion of Russians: 60% of those who voted on the site consider the situation in their city to be bad, only 7% think it is good. But, unlike Russia and the world, 64% believe that each of us is responsible for the state of the environment, and only 17% place the main responsibility on the state. “Environmental issues are mainly of concern to the educated and wealthy part of the population, residents of large cities, and young respondents,” sociologist Lev Gudkov comments on the results of an online survey. “Women are the most responsive to environmental issues, as they are generally more concerned about the quality of life and at the same time prone to anxiety.” This partly explains the activity and indifference of our readers, most of whom are young urban residents, although usually “we, as Soviet people, shift all responsibility to the authorities, thereby justifying our passivity,” Lev Gudkov believes. “The Psychologies survey involved those who are concerned about this problem and want to answer questions, so the picture turned out to be more rosy than in Russia as a whole,” the sociologist continues. – But in principle, the desire to take care of nature suggests that people are able to look into the future, think not only about what will happen in the next six months or a year, but also beyond, which means that some part of society is gradually losing the characteristic features of the Soviet person and begins to live more consciously.

Natalia Gridneva