Amoral but Happy?
Ukrainians can draw very interesting conclusions about themselves from recent research conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology. There were five questions asked those polled: Ukrainian population’s moral reference points, the dynamics of xenophobia, domestic violence, suicidal impulses among adults, and who is happy in Ukraine.
KIIS President and Ph. D. in philosophy Valery Khmelko concluded that the growing demoralization of the society in the last eleven years is accompanied by the paradoxical fact that people do not believe it right to orient themselves to immoral criteria of behavior. Moreover, the existing level of demoralization was mostly formed before 1992, not after the USSR’s collapse.
It became clear in part that in these years the level of people’s preparedness to help each other has fallen considerably. While in 1992 5.5% gave a negative answer to the question, how often people helped you when you were in a difficult situation and there was somebody around who could help, this year there were already 16.5%, with 31% answers “often” in 1992 and 26.1% in 2003. The level of trust between people has decreased even more drastically: 54% of those polled believe that most people do not merit trust (versus 43% in 1992). 27.3% agreed with the notion, “Everything that is not forbidden by law is permissible,” which is almost 3% more than earlier. However, only 26.7% completely agree that they would circumvent the law without breaking it if they had a chance, down from 29.9% 1992.
Speaking about inter-ethnic relations, in the view of KIIS General Director Volodymyr Paniotto, while the level of xenophobia had been growing in Ukraine from 1994 to 2000, later it started stabilizing, at least toward Slavic peoples, with continuing slow growth toward non- Slavs. Attitudes toward Americans has worsened, while with Germans quite the opposite is observed. However, the attitude toward representatives of non-titular nation depends on many factors: the age of those polled (the younger they are, the higher their tolerance), education (the higher it is the lower xenophobia), size of the settlement (the bigger it is, the lower the xenophobia level), etc.
Family conflicts were researched by Head Research Associate Viktoriya Zakhozha. Their main reason is, of course, money. Nine percent of those polled fight over it constantly or very often, with an equal number regretting that they ever got married (though only half of them have ever considered divorce). About a quarter of married women have been beaten by their husbands at least once. However, 41% of them consider their marriage average and 38% even good. Incidentally, not only 24.3% women but 12.2% men have been beaten by their spouses.
Around 10% of Ukrainians aged 18 and above have seriously considered suicide. In most cases this happens between 15 and 20 years of age. A tenth of Ukrainian women and 6% of men are so inclined. Incidentally, 68% of those ever having wanted to do away with themselves are women. The level of potential self-murderers is the lowest in Western Ukraine. Most disposed to suicide are singles (81%) and urban inhabitants (about 70%). Over half state that they seriously wanted to commit suicide, with 33% having no intention to die but were simply crying for help.
However, there are also more optimistic data. As many as 24% feel happy in 2003 compared to 20% in 2001, 28% are more happy than unhappy (18% in 2001), and those unhappy only 8% (19% in 2001). While women mostly feel happy when they are young, with men this lasts until they are forty. Interestingly, the factors that imply positive results are education, faith, financial wellbeing, sex life, skill level, and (strangely enough) being employed in the state sector.
