Intercultural relations in Kabardino-Balkaria: Does integration always lead to subjective well-being

Psychology in Russia: State of the Art. 2016. Vol. 9. No. 1. P. 57–73.

Lepshokova Z., Tatarko A.

This paper examines intercultural relations in Kabardino-Balkaria. Among a large number of ethnic groups living in Kabardino-Balkaria, Kabardians and Balkars are the largest ones (i.e. the so called “titular” ethnic groups). Russians represent the third largest group in the region. The paper reports the results of an empirical study of intercultural relations, mutual acculturation and adaptation of Kabardians and Balkars (N= 285), and Russians (N= 249). More specifically, the study examines the relevance of the three hypotheses formulated to better understand intercultural relations: multiculturalism hypothesis, integration hypothesis and contact hypothesis. We conducted path analysis in AMOS with two samples: the sample of Russians and the sample of two main ethnic groups (Kabardians and Balkars), and further compared path models with each other. The results revealed significant effects of security, intercultural contacts, multicultural ideology, acculturation strategies and expectations on attitudes, life satisfaction and self-esteem in both samples. These findings partially confirm the three hypotheses in both groups. However, we also identified a regionally specific pattern. We found that in the Russian sample, the integration strategy was negatively related to well-being, while contact with dominant ethnic group was positively related to well-being. At the same time, in the sample of Kabardians and Balkars, acculturation expectations of integration and assimilation were positively related to well-being. In the present paper, we discuss this regional specifics

Keywords: мультикультурализм, multiculturalism, аккультурационные стратегии, acculturation strategies