Energy crisis, climate crisis, war and pandemic without end - there is a lot that is unsettling people at the moment. Those in power are trying to calm things down. Some of their opponents are mobilizing for a "rage autumn" in 2022. What is the mood deep in the citizens' souls? Psychologist Stephan Grünewald described to rbb24 Inforadio editor Christian Wildt that the crisis is only slowly reaching people.
The interview appeared on rbb-inforadio on September 22, 2022.
The Cologne-based rheingold institute always asks intensively how people are doing. institute founder and psychologist Stephan Grünewald currently sees a specter of uncertainty behind German curtains. At the moment, we are in a state of transition: "Many people are still trying to save the summer and the self-indulgence, the light-heartedness that was celebrated in the summer, into the fall, into September. But the crisis is also undefined because the people in the in-depth interviews tell us that they suspect it will be very difficult, but most of them have not yet received their heating bills. And therefore they have no concrete experience at all of what they will have to face. And then there are a lot of diffuse fears, from a cold apartment to a complete blackout.
"The concrete extent of the crisis is not yet apparent to people."
Stephan Grünewald
Escalating reality
Worries have increased massively among many people with the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine. Psychologist Grünewald says people had the feeling that an escalating reality was breaking into their everyday lives. He says it was impossible to foresee whether it would lead to a world war or a conflagration. After an initial phase in which people learned a lot about the war, by May they had largely tuned it out. According to a study by the Rheingold institute, people had also radically changed their news behavior over the months. Many no longer watched the news at all or only switched on the teletext - without pictures. But the basic feeling of a certain insecurity remained.
Solidarity majority
According to psychologist Grünewald, there is a great deal of solidarity among the population. Only one group, with a share of about 15 to 20 percent of the population, falls into a childish defiance mode and blanketly blames politics for the current situation. This group will certainly take to the streets and protest. The majority of the population is currently seen as showing solidarity.
Cologne-based psychologist Stephan Grünewald is the founder of the market and media research institute rheingold. Grünewald became a bestselling author with his books "Deutschland auf der Couch" (2006) and "Die erschöpfte Gesellschaft" (2013) as well as "Wie tickt Deutschland" (2019).
Phone: +49 221-466 828 0
E-mail: gruenewald@rheingold-online.de
