Socio-structural aspect of the social fears study

The subject of the study is the socio-structural aspect of the emergence and differentiation of social fears. Analysis of social fears is carried out on the basis of key parameters of social stratification (income, power, profession, education). The author proceeds from the understanding of social fear as a reaction to the social (by real or imaginary) threat of realizing the significant interests, life plans and claims of the social subject. In this regard, the social structure, in which individuals are included, is viewed as the ontological basis of social fears. The theoretical basis of the research was sociological and psychological work in the field of research of social fears, the theory of social stratification, the concept of a risk society. As the empirical material, the results of all-Russian sociological surveys were used. The method of secondary data analysis was used in the work. The article draws the following conclusion. The belonging of individuals to a social stratum determines not only the intensity of the experience of fears, but also the repertoire of social fears. Social fears reflect the range of problems faced by representatives of these or those social strata in the course of realizing their vital needs and interests. Therefore, social fears can be viewed as an indicator of the state of affairs in a particular stratum. Despite the differentiation of social fears caused by the system of social stratification, the fears of representatives of different groups reveal a common nature.