PERCEPTION SCHEMES AND HOUSEHOLD PRACTICES OF THE OLDER GENERATION IN ASSESSMENT OF WELL-BEING

The article is devoted to the analysis of stable patterns of perception and household practices of the older generation and their influence on the subjective assessment of social well-being. The experience of conducting an in-depth interview is described. On this basis a narrative experiences associated with past social experiences were identified. It allowed reconstructing the complex of predispositions of older people and describing the everyday social practices developed during the respondents’ childhood. The logic and content of the in-depth interview was aimed at establishing a link between the assessment of the level of current well-being with the assessment of the standard of living during the period of the respondent's identity formation. The relevance of the research is caused by the need to expand the factual and methodological base for studying the problem of well-being of older people in different historical periods. The general methodology of the study was based on the scientific principles of structural constructivism, which assert the existence of a stable dependence between the agent's perceptions and dispositions acquired in previous years. The purpose of the study was to test the hypothesis that the perception of the existing reality and assessment of the level of well-being of the older generation are the result of the collision of stereotypes of thinking and patterns of behavior formed by previous experience with the new social reality and expectations of society. Results. Older people generally rate their own well-being high, comparing it with the post-war decade. Remembering that time, respondents reveal an attitude for hard work, avoiding tough competition, and also the high role of the state in solving everyday problems. The rationalization of judgments and new explanatory patterns are aimed at reconciling existing models of perception with the expectations of others.