CRRC-Armenia has recently released the 2011 Caucasus Barometer data to its website and to the Online Data Analysis tool on CRRC-Georgia’s
website.The Online Data Analysis system allows users to
adjust the parameters of charts directly from the website without having to
download the database or own a statistical software program. The Caucasus
Barometer has information about many aspects of Armenians’ lives including media
sources, sense of satisfaction and happiness, and opinions about democracy in
Armenia. It also allows users to adjust the parameters of charts from the
website. When aggregated by age group, the data indicates a great discrepancy
between the youth and those over 56 years old. In general, younger generations
feel more positive emotions and are more satisfied with their lives.
When asked whether the statement “I experience a general sense of
emptiness” describes them or not, respondents were quite split with their
answers. Overall, 46% of all respondents stated that this statement does not
describe them with the remainder stating that it either describers them
completely or more or less does so (26% each), and 2% did not know. However,
when split by age group, the data shows that those 56 years old and over are
more likely to agree with this statement (36%) than those between ages 18 and
35 (19%).
A similar outcome occurs for the topic of feeling rejected. In total,
62% agreed that the statement “I often feel rejected” does not describe them while
fewer respondents answered that it more or less describes them (20%) or describes
them (18%).” Yet again, when split by age group, older generations responded
more that they do, in fact, often feel rejected. While only 12% of respondents
aged 18-35 say that this describes them, those aged 56 and over were more than
twice as likely to claim that they often feel rejected (27%).
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Two possibilities could be behind such a gap in generations. First, it
could solely reflect the respondents’ mentality and enthusiasm or lack thereof.
Younger people in Armenia might be more content with their lives and more
optimistic about the future. Older people have experienced the tough economic
and political transition from Soviet rule to democracy, and this may have
instilled in them a more negative outlook on life. The second possibility is
that the older generations are ignored in policy making or in society as a
whole and therefore, have a weak support system. Thus, they encounter more difficulties
in their daily lives and truly feel empty and rejected.
Two other sets of
data from the questionnaire display a similar disparity between the young and
the old. When asked to rate their overall life satisfaction on a scale of 1-5
with 1 being “not satisfied at all” and 5 being “completely satisfied,” the
most frequent response was a 3 (37%) followed by 4 (20%) and 1 (18%). But, when
the data is separated by age, the youngest category responded more positively
with 41% giving a rating of either a 4 or 5. On the opposite end of the
spectrum, almost half of respondents 56 or older (47%) rated their satisfaction
as either a 1 or 2.
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The questionnaire also asked respondents how happy
they consider themselves to be on a scale from 1-5 with 1 being extremely
unhappy and 5 extremely happy. The overall results were quite optimistic with
the rating most often selected being 3
(33%), with 85% of respondents rating themselves as 3 or higher. While the
18-35 group consider themselves quite happy (only 6% gave a rating below 3),
the 56 and older group is more evenly distributed with 1 and 5 appearing at the
same frequency (19%).
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When compared with the other two South Caucasian countries (Azerbaijan
and Georgia), the results show that there is also a gap between the younger and
older generations. However, it appears that Armenians generally have a more
negative outlook on life. The data from Azerbaijan indicates that 9% of total
respondents experience a general sense of emptiness while 13% of those aged 56
or over say they do. Similarly, 13% of Georgian respondents claim they
experience a general sense of emptiness while 20% of older respondents claim
they do. Yet, the response from Armenia revealed a stronger feeling of
emptiness with 26% of total respondents and 36% of respondents from the oldest
age category answering that this describes them.
If you found these statistics and graphs helpful or interesting, go to
CRRC’s ODA system and create your own!
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