Abstract
Economic crises are recurring phenomena that have a profound and lasting impact on both macroeconomic indicators and everyday life. These processes have both economic and significant social consequences. At the individual level, crises are not perceived as abstract macroeconomic phenomena but through everyday experiences. Crisis situations impose not only material but also psychological burdens: they increase anxiety and uncertainty and may contribute to a deterioration in mental health. As the effects of crises manifest differently across various social groups, a key issue is to understand the concepts and associations individuals use to describe the crisis, and how these relate to their sociodemographic characteristics, particularly educational attainment. The aim of this research is to explore how associations with the economic and social crisis differ according to educational attainment, and what patterns emerge across different levels of education. Understanding these differences is an important step towards a more targeted interpretation of social reactions, risk perception and economic policy communication. The basis of the study is a quantitative, questionnaire-based research, using data from a nationwide survey (N = 1194), and applied statistical methods, including cross-tabulation analysis, to explore the relationships between crisis-related associations and educational attainment. The study highlights that the social stratification of crisis perception is not merely a difference in knowledge, but also a difference in how economic uncertainty is experienced. Understanding these differences provides an important basis for the more targeted planning of economic policy communication, social support mechanisms and the development of public resilience.
Keywords: Association, Economic Crisis, Micro and Macro-economic Impacts, Social Impacts.