Comprehensive research: HOW THE WAR CHANGED ME AND THE COUNTRY. SUMMARY OF THE YEAR
A comprehensive comparative study «HOW THE WAR CHANGED ME AND THE COUNTRY. SUMMARY OF THE YEAR» aims to show to what extent the views, assessments, and life of Ukrainians have changed in various spheres during the year of the full-scale russian invasion of Ukraine.
Comprehensive research: HOW THE WAR CHANGED ME AND THE COUNTRY. SUMMARY OF THE YEAR from Ratinggroup
POLITICAL CHANGES
• People's memories of February 24, 2022 reveal shock, confusion, uncertainty, unpreparedness. Despite this, these days, a year after the full-scale invasion, the confidence in victory is 95%, compared to 56% in January 2022. The majority (63%) believes that victory requires at least six months or even more time.
• A significant increase in social self-esteem is recorded. The majority of respondents rated Ukraine’s position above average - 4.6 points out of 7, which is 1.5 times higher than the 2021 indicator. Two-thirds of the respondents rated Ukraine's future prospects at the highest level.
• The main emotion respondents feel when thinking about Ukraine is pride. As a result of the full-scale invasion and the heroic resistance of the Ukrainian people, this indicator has more than doubled - from 34% to 75%.
• There have also been changes in national self-identification: the absolute majority of respondents identify themselves as citizens of Ukraine (compared to 2021, the indicator has increased from 76% to 94%). Half identify themselves as Europeans (double growth).
• 22% of Ukrainians switched to more frequent use of the Ukrainian language during the year of the war.
• While assessing the financial situation at the end of 2022, two-thirds of respondents note a deterioration in their financial situation, one-third states lack of changes. At the same time, almost 40% (against 14% at the end of 2021) have experienced an increase of confidence in the future.
• The priorities for country’s recovery are the restoration of enterprises and jobs and the reconstruction of damage, because most Ukrainians want to work, not to receive social assistance.
• Ukraine is going through a difficult period of its development, rethinking its role in history. In general, the war has contributed to increasing the trust of citizens in state institutions. Trust in the Armed Forces of Ukraine has grown from 65% to 97%, in the President - from 36% to 90%.
• And while the majority (65%) would not mind Zelenskyi to be re-elected for the next term, the number of those dissatisfied with the performance of the Verkhovna Rada (54%) is higher as compared to the number of those satisfied (37%). And if elections were held in the nearest future, almost half would look for an alternative among new parties.
• There has been an increase in trust in mass media, but the main feature of wartime is a sharp change in the channels of communication and the receipt of information by citizens. And while trust in national and local media has grown, the frequency of consumption of their news content has decreased, on the contrary. Instead, there has been a significant growth of groups and channels in messengers (from 11% to 41%), as well as YouTube (from 21 to 29%). Social networks have retained their influence (35%).
• One of the direct consequences of the russian invasion was the strengthening of Euro-Atlantic moods among Ukrainians, which revealed record figures for the entire history of the country. These days, 87% support Ukraine joining the European Union, 86% - NATO.
• While in 2021 the majority of citizens had a negative image of the state, now more than half speak of a distinctly or moderately positive image. Illustrative in this regard is the indicator of the correct direction of the country’s development, which is the highest for the entire history of measurements (over the year, fluctuations have been at the level of 70-80%), which is based on high trust in the military and political leadership of the country, faith in our victory, a significant increase in self-esteem, and pride for the country, as well as the realization of the people's desire for Euro-Atlantic integration.
PSYCHOEMOTIONAL CHANGES AND ADAPTATION TO WAR
• Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the society has demonstrated a high level of vitality, the value of the Index has decreased minimally (from 3.9 to 3.7).
• About 8% believe they have serious disorders that greatly affect their lives. One-third claims having moderate disorders.
• "Planning horizon" is an important indicator of adaptation and it has not undergone significant changes: 45% currently do not plan their life at all. The number of those who have plans for several years ahead has decreased from 23% to 19%.
• Currently, negative emotions are more pronounced than positive, and therefore sadness (4.8) and anger (4.6) prevail over joy (4.1) and inspiration (4.3), between which fear (4.2) and disappointment (4.1) are located. And the most pronounced are excitement (5.0) and interest (4.8), which are neither unequivocally positive nor negative - it depends on the context.
• Over the year, the feeling of self-love has decreased, while love for others has increased; the tendency of affiliation (the desire to be with others) has worked, the personal gives way to the collective.
• Ukrainians are almost as prone to self-restraint as used to be six months ago - more than half (58%) believe that you should limit yourself significantly in terms of entertainment and shopping, and 37% are inclined to think that you should try to live a full life.
• At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, 44% of Ukrainians had to be temporarily separated from their families. A year later, only 21% of them remain separated. Most of those who had to be separated from their family passed the test, and for 20% their relationship has even improved.
• 83% believe that you should be careful with people, while in 2020, only 54% expressed such opinion. It is about trust as a basic value, as trust in the world, which is undermined or destroyed by war. This especially applies to "strangers", or those who have become such, but seemed close.
• The attitude towards people who have left is ambiguous: women with children are tolerated the most; at the same time, the attitude towards men of military age is the most negative.
SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHANGES
• Despite the full-scale invasion, Ukrainians remain a humane and tolerant society, support for the death penalty has decreased from 52% to 42%.
• At the same time, the level of tolerance in society has increased during the war: the positive-neutral attitude towards the LGBT community has increased from 53% to 64%, and towards people who do not want to have children (childfree) it has increased from 57% to 67%.
• During the year of the war, faith in God has decreased somewhat: the percentage of those who do not doubt his existence has changed from 60% to 55%.
• Generally accepted norms and values have become more defined, so anomie moods have ceased to dominate: the number of those with a predominant anomie state (state of demoralization) has decreased from 72% to 48%. The biggest change has occurred regarding the improved understanding of what rules to follow and what to believe today.
• The war led to the loss of work for at least one-third of the working population, with a particularly difficult situation for displaced persons and residents of combat zones: half of them lost their jobs. Even among those who were able to continue working during the war, a half still has suffered a reduction in salaries.
• The most difficult situation with work was recorded in the first months of the war, later people began to return to work. Also, after a sharp drop in number of those willing to start their own business at the beginning of the war, their number has been gradually recovering.
• The main strategy for action in the case of income reduction remains the search for an additional source of income (has decreased from 62% to 54%): many people have started looking for a second job during the war or have started working more. However, not everyone has the ability to control their income (60%), it is especially difficult for the elderly people.
• Most citizens have suffered direct or indirect consequences of the full-scale invasion, only 14% have experienced no losses. Residents of the eastern regions have suffered the most losses, more than half of them have left their homes.
• Despite positive changes in society, optimism and absolute faith in victory, the war continues to inflict irreparable damage on Ukrainians and take away the most valuable. Over the last six months, the number of those who had lost relatives has almost doubled (from 9% to 17%), as has the number of those whose loved ones had been injured (from 8% to 13%). At the same time, there is an increase in the number of those who talk about the deterioration of their health (from 25% to 33%), as well as a decrease in the number of those who talk about loss of income (from 38% to 31%).
Audience: the population of Ukraine aged 18 and older in all regions, except for the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea and Donbas, as well as territories where there was no Ukrainian mobile connection at the time of the survey. The results were weighted using current data from the State Statistics Service of Ukraine.
To conduct a comprehensive study, three separate stages were carried out:
Quantitative survey by the CATI method (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing) based on a random sample of mobile phone numbers. Sample population: 1000 respondents. The sample is random, representative in terms of age, gender, and type of settlement. The margin of error of the study with a confidence probability of 0.95: does not exceed 3.1%. Dates: February 6-7, 2023
Online survey by the CAWI method (Computer Assisted Web Interviewing) was conducted on the basis of a random sample of mobile phone numbers on the Rating Online platform. Sample population: 600 respondents. The margin of error: does not exceed 4%. Dates: February 10-13, 2023
Focus group research with three online focus group discussions with respondents from 23 cities and towns of Ukraine. Number of respondents: 26. Dates: February 4-5, 2023
For comments on the results of this study, please contact the director of the Rating Lab research laboratory, Doctor of Psychological Sciences,
Professor Marianna Tkalych. Phone:+38 (050) 322-09-25 (WhatsApp, Signal), e-mail: tkalych@ratinggroup.ua
