Perceptions of happiness during the pandemic in people of different ages

A relevant question today is how Russians’ perceptions of happiness changed before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Efforts in exploring this problem have generally been fragmentary and focus either on a single occupational or an age category. The article suggests considering the transformation of Russians perceptions of happiness involving an age bracket from 18 to 64. The empirical base of the study consisted of 500 respondents - 220 women and 280 men - divided into five age categories. The key technique was the association experiment. Consequently, it is deemed that respondents' reconstructions of their perceptions of happiness in the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods demonstrates both invariant representations and variative ones. During the pandemic, the number of associations in all groups were linked to the respondents’ personal health and that of loved ones. The results obtained can be of help to specialists who are engaged in reducing the negative effects of crisis situations in the population, preventing and correcting delayed reactions.