What moods prevail in Ukrainian society in the fourth year of the full-scale Russian invasion? Are Ukrainians confident in their victory over the enemy? How resilient are we and why are we now more inclined towards European and Euro-Atlantic integration? All this and much more was discussed by in an interview with the YouTube channel "Suspilne Novyny" by the director of the Institute of Sociology of the NAS of Ukraine, corresponding member of the NAS of Ukraine, Yevhen Holovakha.
The conversation began with a characterization of the state of Ukrainian society, in particular our concerns and worries at the current stage. "The moods are worse than they were in 2022, but better than in 2024. And this is the main thing, because we had a tendency for the psychological state and assessments to worsen starting from 2022, when there was a big surge of enthusiasm and mood, and the assessments were the highest in the entire history of Independence," said Yevhen Holovakha, summarizing the results of the long-term monitoring study "Ukrainian Society" by the Institute of Sociology of the NAS of Ukraine.
The improvement in moods compared to 2024 was explained by the scientist as adaptation, or as some call it, "normalization of war," that is, a certain habituation to its realities, when people gain new psychological resources instead of exhausted ones: "Our research records incredible adaptability of most Ukrainians, although the number of people in a state of distress (acute stress) has increased over three years from 12% to 27%, and we understand that growth, unfortunately, is expected, primarily among individuals with a weak psychotype. The losses of many Ukrainians are very large – loss of relatives, close ones, jobs, housing, places of residence, savings, health, including psychological health. Not to mention the loss of thousands and thousands of lives." As Yevhen Holovakha noted, according to surveys by the Institute of Sociology of the NAS of Ukraine, only 20% of respondents said that they had not experienced such painful losses in their lives.
Moreover, the research showed that in 2022, 76% of Ukrainians were confident in victory, and now almost as many believe in it, but only 40% are confident in it, while 33% consider victory probable.
The scientist called the resilience of Ukrainians high (their endurance, ability to withstand). For example, their assessment of the national economy today is twice as high as in all pre-war years. And this despite the loss of territory and potential. People realize that they previously underestimated the state of their own economy and not only it, and think more realistically. For instance, in response to the question "What amount is necessary for you to live normally in this situation?" people now define such an amount one and a half times lower than what they named in 2021.
The desire of the majority of Ukrainians to integrate into the EU and NATO has significantly increased. Before the full-scale Russian invasion, this was not observed, especially in the East and South of Ukraine. Ukrainians have understood the threat of populism and authoritarianism, so the only hope is for the support of democratic countries, primarily European ones.
Yevhen Holovakha also commented on the problems of youth and mobilization.
Throughout the conversation, the scientist referred to the results of research by colleagues from the Institute of Sociology of the NAS of Ukraine, which he heads, and other institutions. Ukrainian sociologists continue to keep their finger on the pulse of social processes and mass moods, the study of which creates a significant foundation for making decisions of state importance.
VIDEO RECORDING OF THE INTERVIEW
According to information from the Institute of Sociology of the NAS of Ukraine