Everyday risk as a factor of social well-being (by a case study of the youth in the megalopolis)

The paper discusses the risk problems as one of the factors that determines the social well-being of young people in the risk environment of the megalopolis. Social well-being is considered as an indicator reflecting the peculiarities of adaptation to everyday risks. The study demonstrates the efficiency of including the indicator of attitude to risk in the social well-being analysis. The empirical base is the data of sociological research carried out by the employees of the Risk and Disaster Problems Sector, Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology, Russian Academy of Sciences using a representative quota sample in Moscow in 2015. Updated everyday risks of the megalopolis are revealed on the basis of the sociological data analysis, and their “reflection” in social well-being indicators is proved. The main features of the social well-being of young people living in megalopolis are fixed. They include the anxiety based on relevant environmental, physical and psychological risks increased by insecurity in the protection of crime and violence, health and environment; the propensity to the protest behavior. The practical measures for developing the adaptive capacity of the youth intended to reduce anxiety and protest moods in the megalopolis are suggested.