The lowest level of ethnic prejudice in Ukraine was recorded against Ukrainians and Poles, while Ukrainians have the worst attitude towards Russians and Belarusians living in their own countries. Attitudes towards Russian-speaking Ukrainians have also deteriorated somewhat, according to the findings of a study conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology.
During the study, respondents in each ethnic group on the list had to answer how close they were willing to be with representatives of each group (this is called social distance). The minimum social distance is 1 (I agree to let them in as a family member), and the maximum is 7 (I would not let them into Ukraine). The level of social distance is often interpreted as the level of prejudice against a particular group.
The smallest social distance is towards Ukrainian-speaking Ukrainians (index 2.03), followed by Poles and Russian-speaking Ukrainians (indexes are almost the same - 2.93 and 2.95), respectively, the majority of respondents are ready to accept representatives of these groups as family members and close friends. This is followed by Canadians and Americans (the indices are also almost identical - 3.04 and 3.07), and Germans, French and Jews living in Ukraine (indices from 3.32 to 3.39, the difference is statistically insignificant).
The largest social distances are towards Africans (4.69), Roma (4.75), Russians living in Ukraine (4.96), and Belarusians living in Belarus (5.30). The largest social distance, is with Russians living i Russia (6.38). The overwhelming majority (80%) would not allow Russians even as tourists.
Compared to the previous year, attitudes towards Canadians, Americans, Germans and French, i.e. representatives of Ukraine's main allies in the fight against Russia, have improved significantly. Attitudes towards the Poles have not changed, as they were already at a high level (the survey was conducted before the blocking of the Ukrainian-Polish border by Polish farmers).
Only attitudes towards Russian-speaking Ukrainians have deteriorated over the past year.
According to sociologists, after the outbreak of a large-scale war, the level of xenophobia increased slightly due to worsening attitudes towards Russians and Belarusians, and over the past year - from October 2022 to October 2023 - it has slightly decreased due to improved attitudes towards allies (Canadians, Americans, Germans and French).
In general, the level of xenophobia in Ukraine increased with some fluctuations from 1994 to 2007, rising from 3.5 to 4.3 points over this period. From 2008 to 2013, the index dropped to 4.0 points. The xenophobia index has been fluctuating around this value since then, with the index actually equalling 4 (or 3.99 to be exact) in October 2022, and now slightly down to 3.7.
"This level is not high, it shows that for most ethnic groups, the population of Ukraine maintains a distance of 3, 4 or 5 (i.e. they would not want representatives of these ethnic groups to be their family members and close friends, but are ready to see them as neighbours, work colleagues and residents of Ukraine)," KIIS explained.