Dynamics of adaptation of society in conditions of global distress. Analysis of the situation from February 2022 – February 2023

Abstract

The article considers the public reaction to the Special Military Operation launched in February 2022, which certainly became a stress for the Russian population. The data from different companies, that conducted polls between March and november, were collected and the subsequent analysis of the polling materials showed a curious dynamics of public opinion change. The reaction of the population, characterized by anxiety and fears and initially quite inert, gradually began to transform towards more and more support – both verbal and effective – for the Special Operation and the State. In addition, the phenomenon of individual self-organization of citizens to provide various kinds of assistance to combatants, the wounded, residents of new territories, institutions, animals, etc. has emerged. Active participation in providing assistance becomes an adaptive factor that relieves stress. In addition, active assistance to the Special Operation on the part of citizens becomes a model and an incentive for others, who until a certain time were in a state of waiting, to be included in that process. The positive tendencies of the process are obvious. Such reactions are anthroposystemic in nature and require special approaches to preserve social stability and consolidation of society as a whole