01.12.2010
Rating anti - JOY or what upsets Ukrainians?
- In October last year, the Rating Sociological Group presented its own project, the “Joy Rating,” which showed that despite the crisis, the flu epidemic, elections, and many other turbulent circumstances at the time, Ukrainians were still able to find space for joy and happiness in their lives. This year, the group introduced a different project — the “Anti-Joy Rating, or What Makes Ukrainians Upset?” — aimed at exploring the other side of people’s feelings and addressing more difficult questions about their lives.
- The issues that trouble Ukrainians the most are their level of income (40% of responses), their own health (31%), the health of their close relatives (25%), and uncertainty about the future (21%). In addition, Ukrainians are distressed by the absence of work that brings satisfaction (15%), which is one and a half times more than the share troubled by the mere absence of a job as such (9%). Another 15% do not take pleasure in their housing conditions, while 10% are worried about the unsettled lives of their children. One in ten respondents is troubled by unrealized opportunities and talents, while others mention a sense of hopelessness (7%), emotional state (5%), loneliness (5%), housework (4%), relationships with children (4%), and relationships with a spouse or marriage (4%). A further 3% are upset by their neighbors and by the envy of those around them. Only 1% of respondents are troubled by the state of their spirituality, and just 2% by their level of knowledge.
- At the same time, 13% of respondents said that nothing in life upsets them — a group of so-called “absolute optimists,” made up predominantly of young people. Nevertheless, among those aged 18–29, one quarter feel uncertain about their future and the same share are worried about the lack of work that would bring satisfaction. Young people are also concerned about the health of their relatives and loved ones. Only young respondents (and only 4% of them) worry about their level of knowledge. Among people of middle age, income levels become a greater concern, as do both their own health and that of their loved ones. Uncertainty about the future grows, and concerns about relationships with a spouse or marriage become more prominent. Among those aged 40–49, dissatisfaction with their sex life also begins to appear.
- For older age groups, worries about the unsettled lives of their children and relationships with their children increase, while health steadily moves to the forefront: 37% of those aged 50–59 and 67% of those aged 60 and over say that their health troubles them most. Interestingly, around the age of 50 there is a turning point at which one’s own health begins to worry people much more than the health of their relatives. Another trend is also evident: the lower people’s income, the more they are troubled by their own health. In addition, weight directly affects how people feel about their health: the higher respondents’ weight, the more often they said that their health was what upset them most.
- Among those aged 50–59, the lack of satisfying work and poor housing conditions become less troubling with age, although one in ten is concerned about a sense of hopelessness. For those aged over 60, loneliness and relationships with children become more troubling, while housing conditions and income levels worry them less. In line with the saying “old age brings contentment,” only 7% of respondents aged over 60 said that nothing in life upsets them. At all stages of life except old age, people are equally troubled by unrealized plans, opportunities, and talents.
- Women, overall, have more reasons to feel upset than men. They are more concerned about income levels, their own health and that of their relatives, uncertainty about the future, the unsettled lives of their children, and their emotional state. Women are also more troubled by housework, loneliness, and a sense of hopelessness. Men, in turn, are more concerned than women about the lack of satisfying work and about unrealized opportunities and talents.
- Based on answers to the question “What upsets you most in your life?”, a kind of “anti-joy matrix” was constructed. Correlated responses allowed eight psychological groups to be identified:
- Uncertainty about the future, unsatisfying work, income level, unrealized opportunities and talents, lack of work.
- One’s own health and the health of loved ones.
- Housework and housing.
- Loneliness, sex life, and a sense of hopelessness.
- Relationships with children, relationships with a spouse, and the unsettled lives of children.
- Relationships with parents, appearance, and level of knowledge.
- Spirituality, the past, and emotional state.
- Neighbors, the envy of others, and how one is treated by those around them.
- If people had the chance to start their lives over, only 25% of respondents said they would live it exactly the same way. Such answers were most common in the West and East of Ukraine, and among both young people and the elderly. The majority (48%) said they would live partly the same way and partly differently, with this view most common in the North and among those aged 50–59. Almost one in five (17%) would live their life completely differently, especially in the Center of Ukraine and among those aged 40–49. Another 10% could not answer.
- The survey also showed that the higher people’s incomes, the more likely they are to say they would live their life exactly the same way. Among respondents with household incomes above 3,000 hryvnias, 35% would change nothing, compared with only 18% among those with incomes below 1,000 hryvnias. The same pattern holds for education: nearly one third (31%) of respondents with higher education would live their life the same way, compared with less than a quarter (21%) among those with only secondary education. Finally, 33% of those who consider themselves happy would live their life the same way, compared with only 9% among those who feel unhappy.
Methodology
- Survey population: adult population of Ukraine aged 18 and older.
- Sample size: 2,000 respondents.
- Method: face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire.
- Sampling error: no more than 3% for values close to 50%, 2.6% for values close to 30%, and 1.8% for values close to 10%.
- Fieldwork dates: 4–11 October 2010.
- West: Volyn, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Rivne, Ternopil, Chernivtsi.
- Center: Vinnytsia, Kirovohrad, Poltava, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy.
- North: Kyiv city, Kyiv region, Zhytomyr, Sumy, Chernihiv.
- South: Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Odesa, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Sevastopol.East: Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv.
- Donbas: Donetsk, Luhansk.
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