How the attitude of Ukrainians to freedoms have changed. Photo: Pixabay
How the attitude of Ukrainians to the freedoms often called liberal values is changing. The Gradus Research polling company conducted a survey on liberal values and analyzed the dynamics of changes versus the pre-war period.
The first insight from the survey is that people recognize they’ve lost control over their lives and cannot take responsibility for what's happening. 54% of the respondents believe their life depends more on external circumstances than on themselves. Two years ago, such beliefs were shared by 40% of the responders. There’s almost a two-fold increase in the number of people (28% vs. 48%) who bear no responsibility for the situation in their cities or villages.
"The level of uncertainty in society is rising. The rate of "Difficult to say" answers increased significantly. And it’s absolutely natural since the current situation leads to an active reevaluation of personal positions on many issues," says founder and director of Gradus Research Yevheniia Blyzniuk.
She also pointed out the realization of the importance of strengthening the defense function of the state. When answering the question "If you could increase financing of the army or education and culture, what would you support?", the "army" option was chosen by 66% of respondents. Two years ago, only 29% supported this alternative.
The war has obviously influenced the unity of Ukrainians and their support for the national idea. A full transition to teaching in Ukrainian at schools and universities was supported by 73% of respondents, as compared to 67% two years ago.
Those who didn’t support decommunization in 2020 now hesitate or deem it necessary. Only 11% of respondents remain opposed to decommunization, versus 28% in 2020.
A desire to understand the trends in the development of the country and to see its prospects remains consistently high: 94% in 2020 and 93% now. This also applies to independence in judgments, actions, and affairs: 94% of respondents aspired to have it two years ago and 93% do now.
The survey results also show an increasing level of altruism and engagement in helping others. A total of 64% of respondents said they took part in charitable or volunteer activities, while in 2020, there were only 47% of those. More people have begun to prioritize the interests of their group or team over their own: in August 2020, 39% of Ukrainians chose this position, versus 44% now.
The survey was conducted by the Gradus Research polling company using the method of a self-administered questionnaire in a mobile application. The online panel of Gradus displays the population structure of cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants aged 18–60 by sex, age, size of the city, and region. Field period: June 21–22, 2022. Sample size: 1000 respondents.