The Social Research Center presented the Fear Index

The Social Research Center conducted a survey to study the fear index of  Azerbaijani people.  For many respondents, the concept of fear is the same as the probability of an event occurring. Therefore, for some respondents, fear arises from thinking about the consequences of what will happen. For some, the fear may vary depending on whether the event is more or less probable.

The survey was conducted among 1,212 respondents, including Baku, Absheron peninsula, Ganja-Gazakh, Sheki-Zagatala, Lankaran, Guba-Khachmaz, Karabakh, Central Aran and Mountainous Shirvan economic and geographical regions. However, Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and the occupied regions were not included in the survey.

The methodological principles of the research were followed in terms of  the rules of research areas, respondents' selection, research methods, survey structure, field work, survey method, ethical principles, instructions, data processing and analysis.

According to the Fear Index, the similarity of the types of questions asked in the questionnaire allowed for a mutual comparison of the results, so the average was used in the expression of the results. The average number is between 1 and 5, and a higher number indicates more fear.

The analysis of socio-demographic results in the preparation of the index, 51.9% of  were men and 48.1% were women. 31.7% of respondents were aged 18-33, 34.5% were aged 34-49 and 27.3% were aged 50-65. If we group the fears of the population by content, the questions asked were related to the citizen's health, financial situation, exposure to an accident and other issues.

There are two most common fears - the fear of family members getting sick and the risk of harm to their health because of consuming poor quality food. More than 70% of the population is afraid of both events to one degree or another. Respondents are more afraid of getting sick than family members (72%) than of themselves (46%). This conclusion can be explained by the fact that the survey was conducted mainly by young people and middle-aged people, and the presence of older people in their families most likely causes respondents to fear that family members will get sick. Interestingly, younger people are more afraid of getting sick (F (5) = 3.47, p <0.01). In other words, older people are less afraid of getting sick.

In addition, half of the respondents (51.6%) are not afraid of infected with COVID-19. For comparison, according to a survey conducted by the Social Research Center in March 2020, 44.9% of the population was not afraid of contracting COVID-19, while 27.5% had a low level of fear. Thus, we can observe a certain increase in the level of those who are not afraid. However, the number of those who are very afraid has decreased by 10%.  Only the gender factor correlates with the fear of contracting COVID-19. The level of fear in women is higher than men ((t (1193) = 3.226, p <0.01, average values ​​- 2.14 - women and 1.92 - men). The main reason for the decrease in fear is to get used to the current situation. 

Not only there are fears of a COVID-19 pandemic, but also fears of a second wave of the pandemic.  The percentage of those who are more scared of the second wave of the pandemic is equal to those who are not afraid at all (35.2% of those who say, "I'm very scared" and 35.3% of those who say "I'm not scared"). Overall, 57.6% of respondents are afraid of a second wave, while 38.5% are not.