The Ukrainian Mentality: Why We Look for "Zrada" Everywhere, and Become Strong in Times of Trouble

What is the national character of Ukrainians, how do we differ from Russians and Europeans, what traits help us, and which, on the contrary, harm us, said psychotherapist and writer Alexander Strazhny, who has been studying the Ukrainian mentality for more than fifteen years? He outlined his conclusions in the book "Ukrainian mentality: illusions - myths - reality.

Why and when did you decide to explore the Ukrainian mentality?

Even during the Orange Revolution, I was invited to the House of Scientists to lecture on this topic. It was the first time the Ukrainians began to wonder who they were. I agreed only after asking for a few weeks to prepare. I went to the library - but there is nothing on this issue. Or obscure philosophical treatises or paranoid literature like "Christ was a Ukrainian." Somehow I read this lecture then. But the topic touched me, and I began to analyze history, language, architecture, nature, theater, music, and religion - everything that could tell about the nation's heart.

By the way, about the music. Don't you think that most of our folk songs are very sad?

It seemed that way to me at first, too. Therefore, with this question, I turned to the Kyiv Conservatory. There I was told that, according to statistics, there are still more funny songs. So we are an optimistic nation. And so, they survived in an aggressive environment.

Let's first find out what exactly you mean by the concept of "mentality"?

For me, this is a set of specific psychological algorithms that form a person's view of the surrounding reality and, accordingly, determine his behavior. For the first time, the idea of the nation's mentality was put forward by Alexis de Tocqueville, who wrote the philosophical work Democracy in America back in 1835. Exploring the public consciousness of the United States, he drew attention to certain superstitions, habits, and psychological patterns inherent in American society. And thus, he concluded what the national character of the Americans is.

Here the question immediately arises, is mentality transmitted through genes? After all, people from all over the world came come to America.

Yes. But, despite the nationality, people living in the same territory for a long time produce specific psychological algorithms. Generally, the national mentality is formed not for decades or centuries but millennia. Everything affects it - what was the territory, mountains or plains, climate, history. Concerning genetics, it is believed that some character traits are transmitted part genetically. Something is shared, even if a person was born in another territory.

Let's talk about the Ukrainian mentality. What are we?

First, a clarification. The Ukrainian nation is a community of people living on this territory for many millennia. Therefore, we must count the formation of the Ukrainian mentality since people settled on this land and began cultivating it. The Ukrainian nation is autochthonous (the ancient Greek meaning of the concept meant "people living here from the very beginning of the human race"). Whatever they are called, people have lived here for many millennia and pass on their psychological archetypes from generation to generation.

As I said, the formation of the mind is influenced by nature, climate, and history. Since there is fertile land and a reasonably favorable environment, Ukrainians are not an aggressive people at all. They never needed to acquire new territories to feed themselves. His was always enough. In addition, they constantly needed to defend themselves from invaders.

Such a trait as aggressiveness is formed if you need to conquer someone to survive, like the Normans. They conquered the French and the British and came to our territory during the time of the Slavs. Or let's take our Russian neighbors, who are constantly seizing foreign lands. It should be understood that aggressiveness as a feature of the national mentality is neither good nor bad. It's just that the environment has shaped it. Look at the history of Russia - it is very bloody. In Ukraine, there were no such destroyers as, say, Ivan the Terrible.

It so happened that the Ukrainians were not aggressive. And as Les Podervyansky said, our national idea is to gouge, that is, do not touch us. Throughout history, someone has connected us - the Scythians, the Khazars, the Huns, the Tatars, and the Germans. Everyone needed something on this earth. So the Ukrainians have formed such a psychological archetype - they know how to defend themselves and their territory. And fought off everyone or assimilated. Just remember how long after the Second World War, the resistance to Soviet power in Western Ukraine continued.

And this feature of our mentality has led, for example, to the emergence of such a phenomenon as the Maidan. It was the same Zaporizhzhya Sich, where you can defend or attack if necessary. Remember the barricade on Khreshchatyk - everything was built in the image of the Sich. Thus, our psychological archetype, which has developed since ancient times, manifested itself - we know how to defend ourselves. Why such a Maidan did not appear in Belarus or Kazakhstan - historically, these peoples did not have such a thing.

And remember, during the Maidan, we didn't break shop windows, didn't set fire to cars, and even coffee houses worked on Khreshchatyk almost to the last. But for some reason, it is customary for the French or Americans to burn other people's cars during riots immediately.

You see, this is our fundamental difference. Cars hit because they need somewhere to put their aggression. The Ukrainians did not need to drive their anger on the Maidan for something, only to defend themselves from the titushki and the Berkut. That's why coffee shops survived.

Another characteristic of Ukrainians is that we do not like the authorities.

It is also one of our archetypes. Let's see where he came from. People lived on their farms and didn't care what was done in Kyiv. So it was in the time of the princes. By the way, the population perceived them as bandits who came to collect tribute and nothing more. And what about the Cossacks in the Sich? They elected a hetman and smeared him with mud so he would not become arrogant. And if in Russia, the authorities are the "tsar-father," and no matter what the Terrible, Peter the Great, or the current president would do, they are respected. "For faith, the king and the fatherland!" - such is the tradition of the Russians. Ukrainians went into battle for their faith, but never for the hetman. The Russians: "The master will come and judge us." The Ukrainians: "Yeah, now some gentleman here will tell us what to do."

Our nation is very conservative because it was formed as a rural one. Again, this is not good and not bad - it happened that way. Rural - means that romantic, cordial, sings well, closer to the earth and nature. That is a lot of pluses. On the other hand, she is very conservative. Because we had everything. For millennia, we have been able to feed ourselves thanks to black soil. In Europe, conditions were different. There was no such fertile land. It was necessary to work hard to provide, even to fight. They were forced to do something.

Ukrainians are also waiting for treason everywhere. Is it authentic or a national tradition?

Again, this is one of our psychological archetypes. Look, our land has never had a mighty army. Even if we consider the Cossacks, there was not a vast armada. And when the enemy appeared, it was necessary to negotiate or even get out. The Ukrainians agreed and then often betrayed them. These were forced steps for survival.

Did the Revolution of Dignity and the war change the Ukrainian mentality?

No. As I said, it has been formed over thousands of years. Ukraine has constantly been threatened by something – famines, raids, wars. All this has developed patience- we are calmer about danger and decide on our protection. For example, there was no great panic when the accident occurred at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant. It's just that people tried to take the children out in different ways. And nothing has changed today. And before, there were wars and terrible cataclysms, like the Holodomor. But let's take the United States as an example. This is a "greenhouse community" on the territory of which there was only once a civil war. So if something happens - panic throughout America. And so many catastrophes have been preserved in the genetic memory of Ukrainians that we are already accustomed to more or less taking everything calmly and resolving our issues.