Socio-economic aspects of the phenomenon of “trust”

In modern conditions, the issues of studying the category of “trust” have acquired special relevance, especially from the perspective of economics, politics and society. The object of the study is the Russian population and their attitude to various social institutions; the subject is the phenomenon of “trust” and its impact on socio-economic processes. The article aims to study theoretical approaches to assessing the category of “trust” and to analyze the current level of Russians’ trust in various public institutions, organizations, economic and social changes. At present, the study of this category is of increasing practical relevance and necessity for making effective and balanced decisions. It is highly relevant because of the current situation in the country, i.e. unprecedented pressure, sanctions restrictions, changes in social policy, distortion of information and increasing entropy of the information field (the emergence of “fakes”), the difficult political situation; all this leads to the realisation that society is in a state of constant (( pressure”. The consequences of such influences are a deficit of trust on the part of the population and a loss of ability to reliably perceive the ongoing political, social and economic processes. The article uses the results of theoretical and practical studies of domestic and foreign scientists, surveys and monitoring of Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM), as well as two studies conducted by the Institute of Socio-Economic Problems of Population FNISC RAS together with the Institute of Psychology RAS and the Institute of Biofeedback and Noopsychosomatics. The author’s survey instruments were used; the survey was partially focused on the respondents’ trust in various institutions. The findings have both theoretical and practical importance for scientists, researchers and specialists who deal with the influence of trust on the socio-economic aspects of human life, as well as for various authorities involved in social and economic issues in order to curb various types of risks.