One of the fundamental factors influencing an individual’s intent to emigrate is a sense of danger that triggers the decision on settling in another country. The intent to emigrate under modern conditions is decision making in the situation of choice and is determined by perceptions of one’s own security. Security of a person is the matter of his/her own efforts. Thus security is one of the leading factors of orientation and determination in the course of obtaining the notion of the outer world.

263 respondents aged from 20 to 40 participated in the study. Four groups of respondents (those with emigration intentions and with a sense of security; the ones lacking emigration intentions and with a sense of security; respondents with emigration intentions, with a feeling of being in danger; respondents lacking emigration intentions with a feeling of being in danger) were formed on the basis of two criteria: emigration intentions and a feeling of being secure/insecure. The results show that the most significant motives for changing the settling area are life standards and search for comfort, which is explained by a pronounced dissatisfaction with social and economic situation of the native land, and low income. It is identified that the groups mentioned differ in their social psychological characteristics of life satisfaction level, sense of happiness, sense of security, motives for possible emigration, concept of emigration. The contradiction between the stated positive attitude towards those who emigrate (“a person can live where he likes”) and the semantic meaning of the “Emigration” concept (“cowardice”, “attenuation of a state”, “escape”, “rats deserting the sinking ship”) was detected in all groups of the respondents.

The results of polls to reveal features of emigration plans among high school students in Moscow and Riga are analysed. The dependence of adolescents' emigration plans on various factors (family income, parental education, ethnic and religious affiliation, national status, social and psychological climate, emotional issues, etc.) is shown.