BULGARIAN’S ATTITUDES ON COVID 19: SOCIAL OPTIMISM OR REALITY DISTORTION

Yıl 2022, Cilt: 3 Sayı: 3, 147 - 166, 28.03.2022

Alexander Gerganov , Elka Todorova Emilia Chengelova

Öz

This article discusses the data collected from a national sample survey of the Bulgarian population; conducted in 2021, this survey is part of the International Social Survey Programme, implemented annually in over 50 countries across five continents on the basis of a common methodology and established world standards. The study covered a national representative sample consisting of 1,151 adult citizens .The results analyzed here are related to three questions: 1) The respondents’ degree of trust and expectations with regard to the healthcare system in Bulgaria; 2) Their attitudes to vaccination; 3) Their assessments of the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The main results reveal that respondents had greater trust in the people representing institutions than in the institutions themselves; opinions were divided as to the need for vaccination; the respondents’ assessments indicated no anxiety regarding the negative impact of the pandemic on their physical and mental health of people. The authors discuss the obtained results, responding to these and other relevant data specific to Bulgaria, and present their intentions to include new indicators in future surveys on people’s opinions regarding COVID-19.

Anahtar Kelimeler

COVID-19, Sociological interpretation, Pandemic, Crisis, Illness, Masks, Vaccination, Mortality

Kaynakça

• Reference 1: Тодорка Кинева. (2021). Ваксините срещу Ковид 19 през погледа на българските граждани, Икономически и социални алтернативи, бр. 4 (63-71) DOI: https://doi.org.10.37075/ISA. 2021.4.05. [Todorka Kineva. (2021). Vaccines against Covid 19 through the eyes of Bulgarian citizens, Economic and Social Alternatives, (63-71), DOI: https://doi.org. 10.37075/ ISA.2021.4.05.]
• Reference 2: Aiken, M. (2016). The Cyber Effect, Spiegel & Grau.
• Reference 3: Anis, A. et al. (2020). A bibliometric Analysis of Corona O Pandemic in Social Sciences: A Review of Influential Aspects and Conceptual Structures, 10.1109/Access.2020.3008733.
• Reference 4: CDC. (2021). Morbidity and Mortality Weekly/ Covid-19 Incidence and Death Rates Among Unvaccinated and Fully Vaccinated Adults with and Without Booster Doses During Periods of Delta and Omicron Variant Emergence - 25 Jurisdictions, April 4 - December 25, 2021. Recent data is from January 28, 2022/71(4) 132-138. www.cdc.gov.
• Reference 5: CERC. (2019). Psychology of a Crisis, 2019 update. U.S.Department of Health and Human Services CDCP. emergency.cdc.gov.
• Reference 6: CERC. (2022). Psychology of a Crisis 2019 update. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services CDCP. emergency.cdc.gov.
• Reference 7: Chaudhuri, M. (2021). Webinar, 25.10.2021, hold by International Sociological Association.
• Reference 8: COVID-19 Data Explorer. (n.d.). Our World in Data. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus-data-explorer.
• Reference 9: Connell, R. (2020). COVID-19/Sociology. July 29, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1177/1440783320943262.
• Reference 10: Demetriou, L. (2021). The Impact of the Covid-19 Lockdown Measures on Mental Health and Well-Being and the Role of Resilience: A review of Studies in Cyprus. IOSR JHSS, 26 (4):54 DOI: 10.9790/0837-2604035465.
• Reference 11: Drury, J. et al. (2016). Emergent social identity and observing social support predict social support provided by survivors in a disaster: Solidarity in the 2010 Chile earthquake, https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2146.
• Reference 12: Drury, J., Reicher, St. (2005). EJSP, Explaining enduring empowerment: A comparative study of collective action and psychological outcomes. 2005, 35, 35058.
• Reference 13: Felici Cohen-Chen, S., Zomeran, M.Van. (2018). https://doi: 10.1016/j.jesp.2018.03. 016. Fernandes-Jesus, M. et. al. (2021). More Than a Covid-19 Response: Sustaining Mutual Aid Groups During and Beyond the Pandemic Front. Psychol., October, 20, 2021 https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.716202.
• Reference 14: Haslam, A. et. al. (2020). The new psychology of Leadership. Routledge, 9780815363828.
• Reference 15: Hogan, M.J. (2020). Collaborative Positive Psychology: solidarity, meaning, resilience, wellbeing and virtue in a time of crisis. International Review of Psychiatry.
• Reference 16: Jingjing Gao et al. (2021). Death by political party: The relationship between COVID-19 deaths and political party affiliation in the United States, World Med Health Policy. June 2021.www://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
• Reference 17: Krastev, I. (2021). From the silent majority to the unvaxxed minority, NYT, Dec. 24, 2021 OPINION Guest essay.
• Reference 18: Lupton, D. et al. (2021). The Facemask in Covid Times: A Sociomaterial Analysis. De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/ 9783110723717, Vitalities Lab, UNSW: Sydney, Australia.
• Reference 19: Maestripieri, L. (2021). The Covid-19 Pandemics: Why Intersectionality Matters. Front. Sociology, 26 March 2021 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2021.642662.
• Reference 20: NYT The two Covid Americas Jan.25, 2022, David Leonhardt analysis on the Times’s poll.
• Reference 21: Recchi, E. (2021). Researching and Understanding Covid Societies: Sociology and Beyond, International Science Council. www://council. science.
• Reference 22: Reicher, St. (2021). Webinar, 29.04.2021, hold by International Sociological Association.
• Reference 23: Ungar, M. (2019). Change Your World, Sutherland House, 978-1-9994395-2-1.