CHANGING PERCEPTIONS OF SOCIETAL PROBLEMS AMONG SOVIET YOUTH

Dramatic changes in the perceptions of problems in the SovietUnion and in the USA are shown among samples of Soviet youthstudied over a three-year period, from 1988 to 1991. Growingdisillusionment with worsening domestic conditions was mirroredby a growing, unrealistic appreciation of life in the USA, reflectinga painful search for a new national identity.