CROS RELEASES THE “NATIONAL INDEX OF ANXIETIES” FOR Q1 2020

01 April

As expected, most fears were related to the coronavirus pandemic that is spreading all over the globe and filling all the news.

The research for Q1 showed three big phobias caused by the coronavirus outbreak: Russians fear catching the virus, economic consequences of the pandemic and changes in the normal way of life due to the introduced quarantine. Political situation in the country as well as the drop in oil prices and the ruble’s devaluation also share the top lines in the ranking of phobias by their presence in the traditional and social media.

“The “National Index of Anxieties” for the first quarter of the year revealed two major phobias. The first one and still growing is linked to the coronavirus. A while back, it was just a fear of the unknown, but today it is real fear of catching the virus and having troubles due to social isolation. The second phobia is linked to political uncertainty and drastic changes. It was growing since January 15 (President's address to the Federal Assembly) and still remains a hot topic because a new newsbreak for discussion in the social media appears every two or three weeks: the new government, constitutional amendments, Tereshkova’s amendment and the Constitutional Court’s decision on it,” says Peter Kirian, CROS Director for Media Projects and co-author of the “National Index of Anxieties”.

“People are starting to feel fear for their future. Risks that the crisis can directly impact a person’s own life have become reality. The coronavirus pandemic and the fall in oil prices have really badly coincided, becoming a type of an ideal ‘black swan’. We have split the two in our ranking because the situation was changing very rapidly during its preparation. However, today these two fears can be brought under one title: fear of a sharp drop in the quality of life due to the economic crisis that many will probably face in the next few months. The risk of unemployment and loss of income materializes for many people, especially for those who are working in the tourism sector, air transportation, entertainment and restaurant businesses,” comments on the index results Andrey Lebedev, CROS Head of Analytic and co-author of the “National Index of Anxieties”.

You can learn further details about the release here (in Russian).