34/2022
2022-11-02
Fears of Russia Using Nuclear Weapons
The subject of Russia potentially using nuclear weapons returned to the front pages of newspapers after Vladimir Putin recently began suggesting that he would be ready to take such a step. For this reason, in the October survey, CBOS decided to ask Polish people if they found such a threat worrying, using the same set of questions as were first asked just after the war broke out. It transpired that anxiety levels, while still significant, are clearly lower today than before. Two thirds of respondents (66%, a drop of 11 percentage points on March) expressed the fear that nuclear weapons could be used against Ukraine, just under half (47%, a drop of 18 points) that they might be deployed against Poland and slightly over a third (37%, a drop of 25 points) that other NATO countries could be targeted.
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Noticeably more women than men are concerned that Russia might deploy nuclear weapons. Other than that, in all three cases it was older people, less educated people and those taking part more frequently in religious practices that were the ones who were more worried. Likewise, these anxieties are slightly more widespread in smaller places.
More on this subject in the CBOS report.
This ‘Current Events and Problems’ survey (390) was conducted using a mixed-mode procedure on a representative sample of named adult residents of Poland, randomly selected from the National Identity Number (PESEL) register. Respondents independently selected one of the following methods: Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI); Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI), respondents receiving researchers’ telephone numbers in an introductory letter from CBOS; Computer Assisted Web Interview (CAWI), where respondents filled in the online questionnaire independently, gaining access by means of a login and password provided in an introductory letter from CBOS. In all three cases the questionnaire had the same structure and comprised the same questions. The survey was carried out between 3–13 October 2022 inclusive on a sample of 1041 people (58.3% using the CAPI method, 26.1% CATI and 15.6% CAWI). CBOS has been conducting statutory research using the above procedure since May 2020, stating in each case the percentage of personal, telephone and internet interviews.
