2020/10/26 by Вікторія Горбунова, Vitalii Klymchuk · 22 citations
Psychology · Medicine · #Psychological and Temporal Perspectives Research #Human Health and Disease #Identity, Memory, and Therapy #Respondent #Distrust #Disappointment #Famine #Ukrainian #Denial #Psychology #Dieting #Social psychology #Humiliation #Government (linguistics) #Political science #Medicine #Law
paper · pdf · doi:10.21226/ewjus609
published in East/West Journal of Ukrainian Studies 7(2), 33-68 (University of Alberta, Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies)
openalex publication_date 2020/10/26 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
The Holodomor (derived from the Ukrainian words “to kill by starvation”) (1932-33) was the largest famine in Ukrainian history. This article presents the results of a psychological study of personal attitudes to Holodomor events and of worldviews and behavioural strategies connected to famine exposure in the family histories of the survey participants. The results of a survey of 721 respondents showed (1) close connections between a respondent’s pattern of keeping silent about traumatic events that occurred during the Holodomor and the extent of suffering that the respondent’s family experienced during the Holodomor, and (2) close connections between the avoidance of Holodomor-related storytelling and a denial and devaluation of Holodomor events within families. The most common family behavioural strategies of descendants of Holodomor victims showed proper feeding, substantial food storage, and regular health check-in. The most common respondent attitudes comprised a distrust of authority, disappointment with the government, and a priority of family needs over community needs.