Objective. Comparative analysis of assessing the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic depending on the age of the respondents and the strategies of state regulations against infection (example of Belarus and Russia). Background. The study of COVID-19 assessments by residents of regions with different state regulations of the pandemic situation makes it possible to identify the similarities and differences in assessments of the situation, the degree of its impact on different spheres of life, fears, their capabilities and to outline the directions of psychological assistance. This is one of the first attempts to identify the personality-environment-activity interdetermination of psychological phenomenology is presented. Study design. The study was conducted from April 11th to June 4th, 2020 using Google Form. Measurements. Specially designed questionnaire with scores from 0 to 10 (on the Likert scale) of the COVID-19 situation and an open-ended question. Participants. It was attended by 439 people from 18 to 62 years old: 231 Russians (77.9% of women; average age 32.68+9.16 years) and 208 Belarusians (75.5% of women; average age 30.94+10.28 years). Of these: 1) Russian youth from 18 to 30 years old (N=91; average age 23.6+4.21 years) and Belarus youth (N=113; average age 23.1+3.8 years); 2) the mature generation of Russians from 31 to 60 years old (N=140; average age 38.6+6.25 years) and Belarusians (N=95; average age 40.25+7.37 years). Results. Both Belarusians and Russians highly estimated their capabilities and resources. Older people in both countries give a more negative assessment of the pandemic situation, while at the same time giving a higher assessment of their resources than young people. In self-isolation the intensity of fears decreases, the situation is assessed more positively, but the influence on physical activity and mental state increases. Global and personal fears dominate in the absence of self-isolation, while social fears dominate in the absence of self-isolation. There is a positive correlation between person’s capabilities and resources and the assessment of fears, the difficulties of the pandemic situation, and the degree of its impact on various aspects of life in the situation of self-isolation. Conclusions. Assessments of the pandemic situation complexity, the degree of its impact on various aspects of life, and fears are higher among the residents of Belarus, which may be explained by the lack of additional measures against the spread of coronavirus infection.

The 21st century is characterized by the formation of an “intellectual nation” as a new direction of modernization of modern society; at the same time, the intellectual personality acts as a factor of socio-economic development. The most important task for Kazakhstan is the implementation of the Strategic Objective, where an important area is complete modernization in the socio-economic sphere. This task is also typical for a number of developing countries of the world, where the key aspect in the modernization of society is the creation of new innovative institutions to rethink and recreate the modern socio-economic formation. Modernization extends to areas such as intellectual work associated with the new division of labor; as a scientific and cultural sphere related to the knowledge economy and the new information society. Science is faced with a new task to solve the problem of forming an intellectual society, which implies the need for active interdisciplinary research, the integration of socio-humanitarian and socio-political sciences. Kazakhstan, like other developing countries, is faced with the strategic task of becoming a society of the future, in which the basis of the new economy is intellectual potential, a highly competitive system of higher education and an innovatively advanced socio-cultural infrastructure. At the present stage of development of the socio-economic formation, higher education successfully corresponds with the economic sector, and human resources are the main value that makes an innovative contribution to the creation of new products in industry, science, culture and other sectors of the economy and social sphere. In this regard, an important mission of higher education in Kazakhstan is to train highly competitive, innovatively advanced specialists who are able to think creatively and work as highly professional personnel of Kazakhstani society. Key words: intellectual nation, mass media, informational development, intellectual society, partners.