A poll conducted by the Russian sociological institute the Levada-Center, concerning taboos in the realm of sexual and reproductive behaviour, has indicated a blanket increase in conservative views regarding abortion, gay marriage and adultery across Russian society.  The survey, completed in December 2017, precedes two similar polls from 1998 and 2008, making it possible to track the dynamics of public opinion.

The Levada-Center published its findings last week. In total, the number of respondents who denounced adultery as ‘always’ or ‘almost always reprehensible’ has increased from 50% in 1998 to 63% in 2017. When the results were broken down into gender categories, it emerged that women demonstrated a greater rigour in attitudes towards adultery than men; the latter, for example, were more loyal to the concept of adultery than their female counterparts. Interestingly, the increase in conservative thinking towards adultery was widespread across Russian society; all generations and urban and rural residents were inclined to view adultery more negatively than in previous social polls.

In terms of gay marriage, the amount of respondents who denounced it as ‘always’ or ‘almost always reprehensible’ has increased from 63% to 83%; a marked increase of 20% over 20 years. Further analysis of the research signified that generational differences in thinking were virtually non-existent in the most recent survey. This is in contrast to the 2008 poll, in which young adult men were predisposed to be more tolerant towards gay marriage than their elders; unconditional denunciation of gay marriage then differed by 17%. The same trend can be observed in relation to women.

While these statistics display a predictable and relatively undramatic upward trend, Levada-Center specialists highlight the fact that those who denounce abortions owing to financial difficulties have risen from 12% to 35%. Furthermore, there has been a surprisingly acute increase in the number of respondents who stated that abortion is ‘reprehensible in certain situations’ (from 18% to 26%); an alarming rise in negative attitudes. Analysts view this growth as a product of ‘transitional’ thinking, whereby freedom in this sphere was fixed in the 1990s and has been replaced by more conservative, but not yet radical, sentiments.

Religious factors were also found to play a significant role in the forming of social opinions on abortion. 35% of non-practising Orthodox believers were found to be less likely to view abortions for financial reasons as unreasonable than their practising counterparts, of whom only 16% agreed with this point of view.

Another notable fact emanating from the research is that urbanisation and metropolitanism did not generally influence the conservative nature of opinions on sexual and reproductive taboos. Only respondents from small towns and rural areas were more likely to defend abortion owing to lower income and disparities in standards of living between city and countryside.