“Homo sovieticus” continues to dominate Belarusian society. His main characteristic is the ability to adapt to the repressive state; that is why he doesn’t need to be reminded that it’s dangerous to express his own political views. Any negative changes, whatever their nature is, increase the level of intimidation, while any positive changes make him relax. This is visually demonstrated by the dynamics of answering the question “What do you think about the readiness of people in Belarus to express their political views?” (Table 1).
Table 1. Dynamics of answering the question: “What do you think about the readiness of people in Belarus to express their political views?”, %
| Variant of answer |
06’06 |
10’10 |
06’11 |
03’13 |
12’14 |
12’15 |
| No one is afraid |
18.6 |
18.3 |
10.6 |
14.0 |
16.9 |
18.9 |
| Very few people are afraid |
28.5 |
16.3 |
16.9 |
18.7 |
24.2 |
24.1 |
| A lot of people are afraid |
40.2 |
40.5 |
46.1 |
41.4 |
42.7 |
39.1 |
| All people are afraid |
7.9 |
18.8 |
22.3 |
19.3 |
11.5 |
13.3 |
| DA |
4.8 |
6.1 |
4.1 |
6.6 |
4.7 |
4.6 |
| Positive answers total |
47.1 |
32.6 |
27.5 |
32.7 |
41.1 |
43.0 |
| Negative answers total |
48.1 |
59.3 |
68.4 |
60.7 |
54.2 |
52.4 |
The lowest level of fear (the last row) coincided with the “fat” year 2006, the year of the third presidential elections. The highest level was observed in 2011, the year of hand-made financial and economic crisis. “Crimeaisours” contributed to the growth of positive moods, and, as expected, it led to a decrease of the level of fear in society.
The total of negative answers depends on the age of respondents, but this dependency is not linear: 18-29 – 55.6%, 30-39 – 63%, 40-49 – 60.3%, 50-59 – 52.1%, and 60+ – 35.5%. The highest value is registered in the most active age group. Belarusian “state for the people” turns its repressive face to the active and independent citizens above all. That is why despite common perceptions men experience fright more often than women – 55.4% vs. 50.1%.
Over the last 15 years declarative readiness to participate in public protests wasn’t really changing (Table 2). It is a matter of declarative readiness, so the answers of respondents shouldn’t be taken at its face value and shouldn’t be used to calculate the number of participants of rallies and strikes.
Table 2. Dynamics of readiness to participate in public protests, %
| Variant of answer |
08’01 |
04’06 |
12’10 |
06’11 |
12’14 |
12’15 |
| Rallies, pickets |
16.7 |
15.1 |
11.8 |
16.0 |
15.5 |
13.8 |
| Strikes |
12.9 |
12.5 |
8.6 |
13.6 |
11.4 |
13.3 |
| Armed struggles |
2.8 |
5.1 |
3.8 |
5.0 |
5.1 |
3.4 |
| Hunger strikes |
4.0 |
5.7 |
4.2 |
6.6 |
4.9 |
4.7 |
When society is severely and centrally managed in a command way, then the basic type of personality becomes authoritarian too. This person is ready either to submit, or to manifest force to others. In the framework of Belarusian model the power is not the regulating organization, but the owner of the country. It doesn’t establish rules of communication, but represses other-minded. All this recreates the authoritarian type of personality.