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The popular channel «Ukrlife UKRLIFE tv» has broadcast an interview with the Director of the Institute of Sociology of the NAS of Ukraine, Corresponding Member of the NAS of Ukraine, Doctor of Philosophical Sciences, Professor Yevhen Golovakha. The well-known presenter Liudmyla Nemyria showed great interest in the Institute's research, especially the recent studies, and expressed with feeling her pleasure at the chance to talk with her scholarly guest.

Speaking of last year's wave of the monitoring survey, Professor Golovakha called its findings fantastic, above all because they revealed Ukrainians' incredible ability to maintain a high level of resistance to stress and of optimism in the difficult conditions of war.

The assessment of the economy in respondents' answers, for instance, rose 1.5 times from the then still relatively peaceful year of 2021, despite the enormous losses of territory, enterprises and businesses – it was 3.1 and became 4.6. This year there is a certain decline – to 4.4, which is understandable: things have become harder during the war, but people's attitudes have improved on the whole – Ukrainians realised that our economy was not so bad after all, and that the infrastructure did hold up. And, of course, the help of our partners played a role. But that is not simple charity on their part. We are fighting for the values of freedom and democracy, and so our partners supported us, because this is an investment in their own security too.

The scholar observed that 2023 is on the whole less optimistic; we were somewhat euphoric in assessing the state of affairs in the country in 2022, and now there is a certain fatigue and disappointment, but people are not prepared to give up territory in exchange for a truce. Expectations of the counter-offensive and of the return of the occupied territories were inflated, hence the decline in assessments. People had hoped for larger and faster supplies of weapons and ammunition from partners. It became clear that a simplified assessment of the Russian army had taken hold, an underestimation of Russians' disposition to war and of their readiness to put their economy on a war footing. There is a decline, but it is not a fundamental one, the sociologist explained. As for Zaluzhnyi's article, Golovakha stressed, it was needed, because instead of uncertainty Ukrainians heard the truth and a realistic assessment. 

Answering the presenter's questions about the study on the theme of stress caused by the war, Professor Golovakha noted that it was carried out for the NAS of Ukraine. Incidentally, Yevhen Ivanovych recalled that the well-known politician and writer Yurii Shcherbak, at the presentation of his book, called stress the foremost factor affecting people's psyche. The Director of the Institute noted that this study was led by his student and deputy, Doctor of Sociological Sciences Serhii Dembitskyi. On the basis of the well-known powerful test of the complex method of measuring mental states, first applied in Ukraine by Natalia Panina, he created a rapid instrument of 9 questions and showed, in particular, that Ukrainians' level of stress in 2023 is no higher than in 2020. Even so, the sociologist observed, the war is the strongest stressor for Ukrainians, far greater than Covid, since it affects every aspect of our life. The population's adaptive resource, however, as the Institute's research in particular has shown, is very high, and so Ukrainians are not prepared to make unjustified concessions to the enemy. 

Yevhen Golovakha particularly stressed that behind every figure in a study there are living people. And even if studies show that only 14% of Ukrainians are in a state of stress, one must understand that these are hundreds of thousands of people who are suffering. The level of stress among women, moreover, is stronger; they perceive everything more emotionally, whereas among men it is lower, as they try to suppress it. The influence of the media, which sometimes describe the horrors of war, the deaths of people including children, and the destruction of houses and whole settlements in excessively detailed and naturalistic terms, is perhaps the greatest stressor. People need to be distracted from horrors that exist both in reality and in the media. Communication with others is a factor in maintaining resistance to stress. We must treat one another with care and not allow ourselves to pressure or bully others. But each of us must also take care to strengthen our own resistance to stress. The psychological type of a self-confident optimist among family, loved ones and friends is the type of personality that resists stress most successfully. We also recorded unrealistic optimism – in assessments of when the war would end, the researcher admitted. That is a defence mechanism. But of late realism has been gradually increasing, although Ukrainians' level of resistance to stress is on the whole holding up.

Answering the presenter, who asked about ratings, the head of the Institute explained: «We are an academic institute, and so we are more interested in analysing processes than persons, though we do study trust in particular leading politicians.» Golovakha pointed to a paradox: «We were pessimists in 2021, and now we have become optimists. This was helped by the following: at first the world did not believe Ukraine would withstand the assault of the Russian army. But we not only withstood it; we demonstrated that a people's commitment to the ideals of freedom and democracy can become a powerful factor of resistance. This earned the respect of our partners. So the West's respect was transmitted to Ukrainians and as a result the people's self-respect grew, which is what we record in our research. And one more thing – the regional differences in political views and assessments that used to be noticeable have almost disappeared. The war and the heroism of the Armed Forces have united Ukrainians and strengthened many people's sense of identity. Ukrainians have consolidated both around the European integration vector and around a Ukrainian identity. The indicator of these processes is somewhere around 80%.

In closing the conversation, the Director of the Institute summed up: «Our Institute's research convincingly confirms that Ukrainians deserve respect for coming together, resisting, countering stress and believing in victory in the extremely difficult conditions of war!»

The full interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cRgw_kHihA