To Minsk (Минск) and Beyond!

Preliminary Results from Descriptive Data Analysis Comparing Attitudes in Belarus to other Countries around the Globe

I have been working on the following two connected research projects related to my work/stay here in Belarus: 

1. “Country Contextual Factors Impacting Labor Management Practices, Changing Work Values, and Working Conditions in Post-Soviet Belarus, 1990-2008”
2. “Political, Economic and Labor Transformations in Post-Soviet Belarus, 1990-2008”

Up to this point I have been primarily doing a lot of literature review and descriptive data analysis (thanks to sources such as the World Values Survey, the CIA World Factbook, UN Data, Worldbank Data, etc.) to try and get a handle on conditions and context here.  I thought I would share a few basic descriptive data results, just to provide a brief comparative context.  Obviously more rigorous analysis is needed and I make no attempt here to try and explain the reasons for these preliminary results (Note: All data is for 2000 or closest approximate year available):

• Out of 81 countries around the globe (global mean is 6.51), Puerto Rico (8.5) enjoys the highest mean life satisfaction score, with Tanzania and Zimbabwe both bringing up the rear (3.9).  Only the following 7 countries have a lower mean life satisfaction score than Belarus (4.8): Tanzania (3.9), Zimbabwe (3.9), Armenia (4.3), Moldova (4.6), Ukraine (4.6), Russia (4.7), and Georgia (4.7).  Note that general life satisfaction in Belarus is very close to the mean scores of several of its post-Soviet neighbors.
• Out of 80 countries around the globe (global mean is 6.74), Puerto Rico and Venezuela (8.3) enjoy the highest mean "freedom of choice and control" scores, with Pakistan (4.7) bringing up the rear.  Only the following 4 countries have a lower mean "freedom of choice and control" score than Belarus (5.6): Pakistan (4.7), Turkey (5.3), Ukraine (5.4), and Egypt (5.5).  As with general life satisfaction, "freedom of choice and control" in Belarus is very close to the mean scores of several of its post-Soviet neighbors.
• Out of 33 countries around the globe (global mean is 7.14), Malta (8.4) enjoys the highest mean job satisfaction score, with Belarus (5.5) bringing up the rear.  The next closet countries are the Ukraine (5.9), Turkey (6.1), and Russia (6.2), followed by a significant jump in mean scores before you reach the next tier of countries.
• Out of 33 countries around the globe (global mean is 6.34), Denmark (7.8) enjoys the highest mean "freedom of making decision in taking a job" score, with Turkey (4.5) bringing up the rear.  Only 2 countries have a lower mean "freedom of making decision in taking a job " score than Belarus (5.1): Turkey (4.5) and Lithuania (4.9). 
• Out of 15 countries around the globe (global mean is 6.59), Denmark (8.4) enjoys the highest mean "satisfaction with job security" score, with Lithuania (4.6) bringing up the rear.  Belarus (5.5) is only trailed by Lithuania (4.6), the Ukraine (5.2), and Turkey (5.3).

There is tons more in what I have been analyzing so far, but this provides a comparative taste for just 5 different variables.  One can easily see that Belarus is at or near the rear for each of these 5 variables (and many more I have not listed here), significantly below worldwide averages for each.  However, within the post-Soviet/Eastern European geopolitical/cultural context, attitudes in Belarus appear to be fairly similar to several of its post-Soviet neighbors.  

So the big question is why.  I hope to be able to provide some answers by the end of my stay here.