Poll: More Russians View Ukrainians Negatively

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – September 4, 2014) A new survey released by the independent Levada Center on Wednesday revealed a tendency among Russians to characterize Ukrainians by negative personality traits, and their Russians compatriots by favorable ones.

Forty-seven percent of respondents to the poll, which was conducted between Aug. 22 and 25, said Russians were generally willing to offer a helping hand, while only 7 person attributed this trait to Ukrainians.

There were similarly large gaps between Ukrainians and Russians when it came to other positive characteristics, including openness – which 44 percent of respondents attributed to Russians, compared with 14 percent for Ukrainians – and a love of peace, with 41 percent for Russians, versus 10 percent for Ukrainians.

When it came to negative, undesirable personality traits, many respondents attributed them to Ukrainians. Thirty percent described Ukrainians as hypocritical, for instance, while only 5 percent said Russians possessed such a trait. Similarly, 23 percent said Ukrainians were envious, while 5 percent used this word to describe Russians.

Russians were not entirely complimentary when it came to themselves, with 33 percent citing laziness as the trait most inherent to Russian people. The poll boasted a margin of error of no more than 3.4 percent.