Non-material resources of adaptation of the population in the context of crisis

Economic crises have become part of daily life of the population of our country. Crisis situations force people to mobilize resources to adapt to the newly emerging conditions and affect primarily the financial situation of Russians. At the same time, economic resources for adaptation available to the population are finite. However, there also exist intangible resources; they include social capital resources, which are formed in a system of sustainable informal relationships and relationships established on a voluntary basis, which makes them a source of benefits. Building these relationships is based on trust, and their expansion is facilitated by inclusion in network structures. The study of intangible resources of adaptation allows us to consider this process in the context of the concept of social capital and its resource aspect. The aim of the work is to identify whether the population uses intangible resources as an adaptive response to a crisis situation. The empirical material for the study was the data obtained in the course of public opinion polls conducted by the Federal State Budgetary Institution of Science “Vologda Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences” on the territory of the Vologda Oblast. Based on the theoretically substantiated connection of the categories “social capital” - “trust” for the purposes of the analysis, the groups of respondents were identified that differ in the integral index of trust, which characterizes the available social capital. It was found that groups of respondents with a higher trust index demonstrate more positive assessments of their financial situation, which can be considered as a result of the use of the existing volume of social capital and more successful adaptation to the conditions that have changed. The study of resources for the adaptation of the region’s population will make it possible to assess the existing opportunities, identify sources of adaptive resources, understand the mechanisms of social adaptation, and make adequate management decisions in support of the needy groups.