The growing territorial and regional inequality, depopulation of Russia and the gender imbalance are defined in the article as an environment for social sentiment in rural areas. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, uncontrolled information flows, its inclusivity and media construction acted as a catalyst for changing social sentiment, taking the form of new fears, stress, and depression. The author’s hypothesis about the shock period of 2020, which modified social interactions and everyday practices of not rural people but big-city residents first of all, was confirmed and laid out in the content of the article. Sociological studies of the Eurobarometer and VCIOM, their methods of social sentiment indices as an integral indicator, current legal and statistical sources were the empirical base of assessment of rural people social mood. The author conducted a gender analysis of the data obtained under the project of RSF “Precariat: a new phenomenon in the socio-economic structure of society”. The conclusion is made about the qualitative characteristics of the social mood, represented by the growth of the life dissatisfaction level, more radical socio-political assessments of rural residents, their insufficient “rainy-day fund”, emotional anxiety and fragility of the personal and family future as a possible scenario. Talking about social security, a gender specificity in favor of women and a higher degree of social optimism among women than men as rural residents were revealed. Read in PDF
