printSubjective Well-Being and Standard of Living in the Kaliningrad Region
Zotova M.V.
Cand. Sci. (Geography), Senior Researcher, Institute of Geography of RAS; Assoc. Prof., HSE University, Moscow, Russia zotova@igras.ru
Zinovyev A.S.
Senior lecturer, St.-Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia a.zinovyev@spbu.ru
The article was prepared with the support of RFBR project No. 20-05-00697, State Assignment IG RAS No. АААА-А19-119022190170-1 (FMGE‑2019-0008)
Zotova M.V., Zinovyev A.S. Subjective Well-Being and Standard of Living in the Kaliningrad Region. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2024. No 2. P. 48-61
The article provides a conjugated analysis of an objectified picture of the living conditions and subjective well-being of the population in the Kaliningrad region as one of the Russian border regions, characterized by the strengthening of the role of the border as a dividing marker against the background of intense cross-border interactions in the recent past. The study is based on a comparison of the socio-economic indicators of the neighboring border regions of Russia, Poland, and Lithuania with quantitative (representative survey) and qualitative sociological data (focus groups and semi-structured interviews) obtained by the authors in Kaliningrad region in 2020–2022. It is shown that subjective well-being and perception of the quality of life, as well as a comparison of one’s own standard of living with that achieved in neighboring Poland and Lithuania, are determined by the socio-economic polarization of the region and the heterogeneity of the Kaliningrad society, including differences in lifestyle, mobility, and activity of residents. An imbalance between the relative material well-being of the inhabitants of the exclave against the background of other Russian regions and their poor social well-being caused by an unfavorable comparison of themselves with neighboring EU countries was revealed. Differences across the border are assessed primarily through the prism of general admiration for Europe, envy of goods and comfort, although most respondents are not familiar with the realities of life on the other side of the border. At the same time, the main referents of unfavorable comparisons are not only neighbors, but also the most wealthy and successful groups of the population.
AlmakaevaA.M. (2021) Subjective well-being and subjectively perceived quality of life as indicators of territorial development. SocioDigger. April 2021. Vol. 2. Iss. 4(9): 12–20. (In Russ.)
Caplan B. (2009) Against the Human Development Index. The Library of Economics and Liberty.
Dubrovskaya S.A., Ryakhov R.V., PavleychikV.M. Evaluation of the Comfort Development Potential in Urbanized Geosystems of Volgograd and Orenburg. Izvestiya IGU. Ser. Nauki o zemle [Herald of ISU. Series Earth Sciences]. 2022. Vol. 42: 29–40. (In Russ.)
Inglehart R.F. (1990) Culture Shift in Advanced Industrial Societies. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
van Houtum H., van Naerssen H. (2002) Bordering, Ordering and Othering. Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie. No. 93(2): 125–136.
Karabchuk T.S., Salnikova D.V. (2016) Objective and subjective well-being: experience of comparative analysis of the countries of Central Asia, Russia and Belarus. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. No 5: 96–109. (In Russ.)
Kolosov V.A., Zotova M.V. (2013) Geopolitical Worldview of Russian Students. Regional Research of Russia. 2013. Vol. 3. No. 3. P. 265–276.
Kuznetsova T. Yu., Sibireva N.I. (2020) Economic and demographic differences between the municipalities of the Kaliningrad region. Vestnik BFU im. I. Kanta. Ser.: Estestvennye i medicinskie nauki [Bulletin of BFU named after I. Kant. Ser.: Natural and medical sciences]. No. 1: 43–55. (In Russ.)
Mareeva S.V. (2018) Zones of subjective well-being and trouble in Russian society. Vestnik RUDN. Ser.: Sotsiologiy [RIDN Journal of Sociology]. Vol. 18. No. 4: 695–707. (In Russ.)
Meinhof U.H. (2003) Migrating borders: An introduction to European identity construction in process. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. No. 29(5): 781–796.
NemirovskayaA.V., Soboleva N.E. Subjective well-being determinants in Russia: a regional perspective. Vestnik instituta sotziologii [[Bulletin of the Institute of Sociology]. 2020. Vol. 11. No. 2: 54–81. (In Russ.)
Palmovsky T., Fedorov G.M. (2020) Russian-Polish borderland: problems and prospects for the development of cross-border relations. Polis. Politicheskie issledovaniya [Polis. Political studies]. No. 2: 178–191. (In Russ.)
Plyukhin M. Yu. (2009) Cross-border cooperation of the Kaliningrad region – problems and prospects. Baltiyskiy region [Baltic region]. No. 1(1): 77–80. (In Russ.)
Savchenko T.N., Golovina G.M. (2006) Subjective quality of life: approaches, assessment methods, applied research. Moscow: IP RAN. (In Russ.)
SebentsovA.B., Zotova M.V. (2018) Kaliningrad region: challenges of exclaveness and ways of its possible compensation. Baltiyskiy region [Baltic region]. No. 1: 86–106. (In Russ.)
Sibirev V.A., Golovin N.A. (2020) Intergenerational differences in life satisfaction and happiness in Russia (on the materials of the European Social Survey). Monitoring obshchestvennogo mneniya: ekonomicheskiye i sotsial’nyye peremeny [Monitoring of public opinion: economic and social changes]. No. 1: 296–315. (In Russ.)
Vendina O.I. (2015) Kaliningrad: planning for the future and the needs of youth. Izvestiya RAN. Ser. geograficheskaya [Herald of RAS. Geographical Series]. No. 4: 95–106. (In Russ.)
Vendina O.I., ZinovievA.S. (2022) Borderliness and Periphery: On the Question of the Context of the Formation of Kaliningrad Identity. Mir Rossii. Sociologiya. Etnologiya [Universe of Russia. Sociology. Ethnology]. No. 31(2): 118–143. (In Russ.)
Yitzhaki S. Relative deprivation and economic welfare. European Economic Review. 1982. No. 17 (1): 99–113.
Żemojtel-Piotrowska M. et al. (2017) Measurement Invariance of Personal Well-being Index (PWI8) Across 26 Countries. Journal of Happiness Studies. Vol. 18. No. 6: 1697–1711.
Zubarevich N.V. (2003) Social development of Russian regions: problems and trends in the transition period. URSS. (In Russ.)