Institute of Sociology NASU

Trust in various sources of information in war conditions: a sociological analysis of the Ukrainian experience

stmm. 2025 (2): 59-79

DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/sociology2025.02.059

Full text: https://stmm.in.ua/archive/ukr/2025-2/5.pdf

NATALIA BOYKO, Doctor of Sciences in Sociology, Leading Research Fellow at the Department of Social Psychology, Institute of Sociology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (12, Shovkovychna St., Kyiv, 01021)

bnatal28@ukr.net

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3092-1540

The war has sharply increased the demand of Ukrainians for news and current information. The situation of active information consumption in wartime has actualized the problem of both the reliability of the information that Ukrainians receive today and the reaction of Ukrainians to various sources of information in the modern information field. Therefore, the importance of trust in various sources of information has increased. The article analyzes the features of trust in various sources of information in modern Ukrainian society. The analysis is based on the results of an all-Ukrainian sociological survey of the adult population of Ukraine, conducted in early August 2024 within the framework of the international project “Media Literacy and Access to Trusted Information during the War in Ukraine”. The study demonstrated significant information-search activity of Ukrainians in wartime. At the same time, an active presence on the Internet, including social networks, watching TV or listening to radio programs are not an automatic indication of the expected trust in the information that Ukrainians receive from a particular information source. A fairly high percentage of Ukrainians' uncertainty regarding their level of trust in various sources of information was recorded. The results of the study showed that local news, news from foreign media and information from their closest environment are more trusted than all-Ukrainian information resources. However, no specific type of information source was identified that Ukrainians trust the most (traditional sources of information; Internet sources, etc.). Certain age, regional and gender characteristics of trust in certain sources of information were identified.

Keywords: trust, balance of trust/distrust, information, media consumption, war, Ukraine

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Received 24.03.2025 Accepted for publication after review 14.04.2025 Published ...2025