Modern Russian society: between alarm and optimism

Abstract

The author attempts to analyze the emotional component of the life of the Russian society including the situation of financial and economic crisis. The author investigates the common trends of the development of emotional state of modern Russian society within ―pessimism-optimism‖ continuum, points out factors of development, social niches where the positive and negative emanations are forming. The article concludes that before the crisis there was a symbiosis of social stability and personal uncertainty (“stable uncertainty”). The conclusion is based on the results of the study conducted by the Institute of Sociology of the RAS in 2009, as well as the data from other centers.