Outcomes: Acting in an exceptional situation

The 2024 study included a section that dealt with acting in exceptional situations. The topic is significant because, from the perspective of societal security and supply security, it is important to monitor different population groups' trust in authorities’ instructions and their willingness to act as part of society in exceptional situations. The statements related to the topic were consciously formulated to be concrete and apolitical, avoiding any reference to potential sources of threats or anything else that might influence respondents' attitudes toward the statements.

Respondents were informed that the presented statements concerned their actions in a serious exceptional situation (e.g., natural disaster, pandemic, military escalation, see graphs 24 and 25). The statements were to be evaluated on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree.

The results are good: a total of 87 per cent of respondents had a positive attitude toward the willingness to participate in rescue/assistance work in the event of a societal crisis situation. Additionally, 81 per cent reported trusting authorities’ instructions during transitions or evacuations in crisis situations.

When assessing the trust experienced toward various entities in Finnish society, the police and the military received the highest ratings, which is consistent with the results of the statements regarding exceptional situations: authorities are trusted at least on a concrete level, and respondents are willing to follow and support their guidance in possible exceptional situations, despite the fact that several ideological or political lines, decisions, and actions of the Finnish state, for example in relation to Russia, do not receive support from the respondents.

There is not much variation in the presented statements when examined based on respondents' background information, which indicates that a positive and trusting attitude is fairly cross‑sectional among the population group. However, trust in authorities’ instructions during crisis situations decreases somewhat among those who have lived in Finland the longest (over 15 years), which can be seen as a concerning observation. Those who have lived in Finland for a long time tend to be, on average, more “Russia-friendly” in several attitude and opinion questions compared to other groups.

Interviewers reported that several interviewees had asked for clarification on which country's authorities the statement referred to. An important point is also that for some Russian speakers living in Finland, it is not obvious which country's authorities would be their “default authorities” in the event of possible exceptional or crisis situations.

Respondents were also asked how they would best receive authorities’ instructions during a crisis or exceptional situation. Four out of five respondents assessed that authorities’ instructions would reach them best during a crisis or exceptional situation via text message (see image 26). Other good contact channels identified were a mobile application (30%) and alert systems (28%).

Acting and reaching out in exceptional situations

• The results regarding trust in authorities during exceptional situations and the willingness to participate in rescue/evacuation work are positive: respondents are very confident in authorities’ instructions and are engaged in societal activities. The questions were deliberately formulated to be very apolitical and concrete, and it seems that trust in Finnish society is good at a practical level, even though there may be significant differences in political and ideological positions. On the other hand, when assessing trust in institutions, for example, trust in the police was indeed high.
• But then again, trust in authorities’ instructions during exceptional situations decreases among those who have lived in Finland for over 16 years, which is concerning.
• The majority of respondents hope to be contacted via text message in the event of an exceptional situation, regardless of their residential area or Finnish language proficiency.