Information Resilience as a Means of Countering the Socio-Psychological Strategies of Information Wars

Abstract

The article defines the basic principles of conducting information-psychological special operations as one of the forms of information warfare. The objects and subjects of information wars, as well as the methods and tactics of its conduct, are determined. In the process of studying the problem, it has been revealed that in theory and practice, the term «information wars» are often replaced by the concept of «strategic communications», which in some way familiar by sense but incorrect due to several differences: semantic, conceptual, goal-setting, etc. The main differences between the so-called «conventional» and «non-conventional» methods of warfare are analyzed, and the advantages of information-psychological campaigns as non-conventional wars compared to conventional wars are distinguished. The article also identifies the most effective forms of information and psychological campaigns in influencing and transforming people's thinking and behavior patterns - disinformation, propaganda, and manipulation. The authors used data obtained as a result of a nationwide study using the face-to-face interview method to determine the level of information resistance as a means of confronting the socio-psychological actions within the information war against the Ukraine population. For this goal, the authors formulated a hypothesis that the level of effective opposition to the influence of information and psychological campaigns is directly proportional to the level of development of media and information literacy.