The article attempts to demonstrate the conditionality of the values of Ukrainian society by the real socio-economic and political processes in the state. Using the results of the World Values Survey conducted in 2017-2020, the indicators of Ukraine's development, the existing socio-political context, the author summarized the following: value orientations of society – both stable and dynamic, so they can both measure the state of society and litmusize its demands and needs for effective public policy; in times of serious challenges, society is able to accumulate internal resources and demonstrate unexpectedly rational (instead of traditional) responses to unprecedented challenges. For example, increasing the feeling of security during the war or a positive assessment of financial situation and well-being in the context of pandemic and lockdown; the values acquired over the years since the Revolution of Dignity bring Ukrainian society closer to the highly developed in economic, interpersonal, legal sense of European societies. It is determined that the analyzed indicators of Ukraine's development as a welfare state indicate extremely low, distorted, one-sided positive trends. Contradictory and very slow departure of society from post-Soviet orientations in the areas of political system, economy, formation of relations between the citizen and the state is compensated by the value approach of Ukrainians to leading European countries in tolerance, financial security and responsibility for their lives and well-being. Therefore, in the context of the systemic crisis in Ukraine, society is in a state of balance between the values of survival and self-expression – absolutely logical, and the movement – both relative to 2011 and in comparison with European countries in general – towards democratization, widespread perception of secular and rational values. is evidence of the completion of the process of transformation of post-socialist Ukrainian society and its entry into the group of highly developed European countries. It was stated that post-socialist influences and the instability of Ukraine's economy and position in the international community determine the presence of Ukrainian society on a shaky balance of survival and self-expression values