Book
Changing Values and Identities in Post-Communist World
This book offers a comparative analysis of value and identity changes in several post-Communist countries. In light of the tremendous economic, social and political changes in former communist states, the authors compare the values, attitudes and identities of different generations and cultural groups. Based on extensive empirical data, using quantitative and qualitative methods to study complex social identities, this book examines how intergenerational value and identity changes are linked to socio-economic and political development. Topics include the rise of nationalist sentiments, identity formation of ethnic and religious groups and minorities, youth identity formation and intergenerational value conflicts
This paper examines inter- and intragenerational value similarities and differences among two generations of ethnic Russian minority member living in two North Caucasus republics—North Ossetia-Аlania (RNO-A) and Kabardino-Balkaria (KBR) of the Russian Federation. It also compares them with values of two generations of Russians in the Central Federal District of Russia (CFD) and with values of indigenous people in these republics. The sample included 563 parent-adolescent dyads, 720 ethnic Russians and 406 members of the dominant ethnic groups in the North Caucasus republics overall. Data were obtained using Schwartz’s Revised Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ-R). Scores for Schwartz’s four higher-order value types (Openness to Change, Self-Enhancement, Conservation, Self-Transcendence) were calculated. Multivariate analysis of variance revealed intergenerational gaps only for Openness to Change and Conservation values among the ethnic Russian minority in the North Caucasus republics, whereas among Russians in the CFD intergenerational gaps emerged for all higher order values. Furthermore, we found that the pattern of intergenerational similarities and differences in the Russian minority of RNO and KBR was closer to the patterns of the dominant ethnic groups of these republics than to the pattern exhibited by Russians in the CFD. The incurred intergenerational value differences are interpreted as reflecting differences in sociocultural contexts of the two generations’ at their times of upbringing, in line with sociological modernization theory.
The study highlighted the role of family climate and value transmission in the well-being of youth. A positive psychological climate within a family (psychological closeness of youth with their mothers) was a strong predictor of the well-being of Russian youth in Latvia. The results indicated that the absolute value similarity scores of Russian youth with their Russian peers are the highest in all the higher-order values compared to value similarity of Russian youth with their mothers and Latvian peers. The positive relationship between the value similarity of Russian youth with Russian peers and psychological well-being of Russian youth was found only for similarity in self-enhancement values. The latter result is in line with the results of related research that showed that value congruence with the group of peers (this group might be seen as a reference group) contributes to life satisfaction (Khaptsova & Schwartz, 2016; Musiol & Boehnke, 2013). An additional conclusion from this study is that value transmission of ethnic minority youth serves not only as a tool for culture maintenance and well-being but also as a tool for acculturation at the individual, family, and group levels.
This paper examines the relationship between five group identities (ethnic, religious, republican, regional, and national) in three generations of Russians and Ossetians, living in the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania (RNO-A). The sample included 109 grandparent-parent-adolescent triads from Russian families and 106 such triads from Ossetian families (total N = 645). Data processing was carried out using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and correlation analysis (partial correlations) separately for Russians and Ossetians. The results showed that the pattern of correlations between group identities among three generations of Russians and Ossetians suggested two bases for identification: national (Russian) and regional (North-Caucasian). Among three generations of Russians, the republican identity (identification with the Ossetian host society) was “a bridge” between the national identity and regional identity. In Ossetian grandparents and parents, these two identifications were also linked through ethnic and religious identities, while in Ossetian adolescents, these backgrounds were separated. Intergenerational differences in group identity structures were largely caused by changes in the sociocultural context of North Ossetia in the last 70 years (a three-generation period of socialization).
The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 led to the fact that a young generation of citizens in the new independent states grow up in conditions that substantially differed from their parents’ period of socialization. A large number of ethnic Russians, who previously lived in one state, now live in different countries outside Russia. The sociopolitical status of Russians changed dramatically: they became an ethnic minority and faced the challenge of adapting to their new life status. In this study we follow the trajectories of value comparisons between two generations within countries in minority and majority groups, within generations between countries, and a cross-country comparison of families.
This paper examines the role of the place of living (urban or rural society) and its social- cultural context in determining the parent- adolescent child value similarity. We interviewed representatives of two generations: parents and children from 90 families in Moscow and 62 families in Russian villages (n=304 people). Our findings indicated the influence of socio- cultural context (urban-rural) on the transmission of values. Conservation values were primarily transmitted from parents to children in the more traditional, rural context. Openness to change, Self-Enhancement and Self-Transcendence values were transmitted from parents to children mainly in the urban context. Perceived psychological closeness between parents and adolescents (as perceived by adolescents) affected the adoption of values by the adolescents in both urban and rural contexts. All values of adolescents were more similar to the values of peers than to their parents, in both urban and rural contexts.
The chapter analyzes transformations of identity and work ethic among rural habitants through the lens of moral emotions based on the empirical data – thirty semi-structured interviews were collected in several villages of the agricultural region of Russia. We present the following logic of transformations: changed socio-cultural conditions, including public sentiment toward agricultural labor, lead to the transformation of identity of peasantry. Shifts in self-identification cause changes in labor attitudes and strategies, and new attitudes are ingrained in the work ethic of Russian peasantry. The decision to concentrate on emotions emerged in the aftermath of a more general study of the social and structural conditions in the Russian countryside, which resulted in interviews abounding with villagers’ representations of negative emotions. Building on the existing body of work on the psychology and sociology of emotions (focused on studies of shame and envy), the authors have identified new demonstrations of emotion arising from new socio-cultural conditions in the Russian village. This is achieved through an analysis of the verbal markers employed in moral emotions. The authors outline the phenomenon of “contempt for rural/physical labor” from both the immediate surrounding environment and wider society more generally. This emotional backdrop brings with it negative effects such as shame and envy that, in turn, corrode self-esteem and self-efficacy among the rural population, leading even to withdrawal from active employment on the land and the weakening of social ties. As a result, the rural ethical views work as a thing needed purely in order to meet one’s basic needs, a position that weakens any aspirations toward economic success and simultaneously promotes a sense of endurance and suffering among the rural population who are forced by ‘necessity’ to do such hard and ‘dirty’ work.
The historical and political situation of Uzbekistan created a unique context where language
and ethnicity do not completely overlap for all groups. The study focused on three groups of
Uzbeks: Uzbek Uzbek-speakers, Russian Russian-speakers, and Uzbek Russian-speakers. We
explored how national, ethnic, ethnolinguistic, and religious identities are associated with
interethnic friendship and romantic relationships in these three groups. Identities that are more
inclusive (national and ethnolinguistic) were associated with more positive interethnic
attitudes and practices, while the opposite was found for ethnic identity. The national, ethnic,
ethnolinguistic, and religious identities were strongest for Uzbek-speaking Uzbeks and
weakest for the Russian-speaking Russians. Our study demonstrated the relevance of a
profound knowledge of the local history and context to understand the role of the various
social identities for the groups in Uzbekistan.
The chapter is devoted to studying the role of social disidentification in acculturation preferences of ethnic minority and majority group members. Social disidentification refers to the active rejection and distancing oneself from a particular group. The study involved ethnic Russians living in Kabardino-Balkar Republic (KBR), North Caucasus, Russian Federation (N = 249), and the Kabardians and Balkars, who constitute the ethnic majority of Kabardino-Balkar Republic (N = 285). We measured ethnic, religious, republican, regional (North Caucasian), and national (belonging to Russian Federation) identities in both ethnic majority and minority group members as well as levels of national, regional, and republican disidentification. We used measures of acculturation strategies and expectations from the Mutual Intercultural Relations in Plural Societies project (http://www.victoria.ac.nz/cacr/research/mirips). Data processing was carried out using hierarchical regression analysis. The results showed that not only social identities affect the acculturation preferences but also social disidentification. We found that the republican disidentification of ethnic Russians in KBR was positively related to their separation and marginalization acculturation strategies and negatively related to their integration strategy. The regional disidentification of ethnic Russians in KBR was negatively related to their assimilation strategy and positively related to their marginalization strategy. The national (belonging to Russian Federation) disidentification of ethnic majority group members (Kabardians and Balkars) was positively related to their expectations of the segregation, assimilation, and exclusion of ethnic Russians and negatively related to their integration in the republic. In general, the study shows specific patterns of relationships between different types of social disidentification and acculturation preferences of majority and minority group members.
This book presents reports of a set of research conducted in the countries of Eastern and Central Europe, the Russian Federation, and Uzbekistan after the collapse of USSR and so-called socialist bloc in Eastern Europe. Until now, there has been relatively little empirical research devoted to the changing values and identities across countries and generations in this region. This book has sought to make a valuable contribution to this understudied field.
Authors present the main directions of the research of changing values and identities in post-communist countries of Eastern Europe
The results of cross-cultural research of implicit theories of innovativeness among students and teachers, representatives of three ethnocultural groups: Russians, the people of the North Caucasus (Chechens and Ingushs) and Tuvinians (N=804) are presented. Intergroup differences in implicit theories of innovativeness are revealed: the ‘individual’ theories of innovativeness prevail among Russians and among the students, the ‘social’ theories of innovativeness are more expressed among respondents from the North Caucasus, Tuva and among the teachers. Using the structural equations modeling the universal model of values impact on implicit theories of innovativeness and attitudes towards innovations is constructed. Values of the Openness to changes and individual theories of innovativeness promote the positive relation to innovations. Results of research have shown that implicit theories of innovativeness differ in different cultures, and values make different impact on the attitudes towards innovations and innovative experience in different cultures.
In March 2011 scholars met in Prague at the conference Interculturalism, Meaning and Identity. This event revitalised this important theme related to Diversity and Recognition. The terms 'interculturalism' and 'integration' are experiencing a renaissance. As the extent of human movement between nations increases attempts are made to balance cultural difference and social cohesion. In some contexts immigration and settlement policies are becoming more draconian in response. Because of this, interculturalism can take on many meanings. However, pivotal to the way interculturalism is understood is identification. As the relationship between nation, ethnicity and language becomes more complex so too do the ways in which people represent them selves. The cultural resources drawn on and the processes used to form identities are examined in this truly international collection. So too are the implications of these developments for how we theorise culture, meaning and identity.
The paper treats the issue of identity of the ego, which constitutes the central problem of personology. The skeptical approach to this problem, which sees it as not being subject to be resolved by means of science, began with D. Hume's work. Contemporary personologists (P. Ricoeur and others) approach this problem through study of culture, which imparts the ego with «narrative identity». Cultural historic psychology is a «Bridge of interpretations», upon which philosophy of culture meets psychology, and psychological data associated with «personality» are interpreted on the basis of some specific cultural philosophic theory. The «conflict of interpretations» plays and essential role in personology, which participates in the processes of emergence and overcoming of the cultural crisis. Philosophical and methodological problems that define the near term perspective development of personology are formulated: whether there are any «ego invariants» that remain regardless of any possible cultural determination; whether the ego possesses any rigidity in relation to cultural determination and, if it does, what is the nature of this rigidity; whether ego identity is destroyed when cultural determination diminishes or ceases, etc.
This chapter proposes an unfolding view of the EU as a sort of post-modern neo-medieval empire, in which narratives of othering towards Central and Eastern Europe preserve their salience.
In this paper we introduce distinction between “ontologically non-fregean” logics and “pragmatically non-fregean” ones; by means of such distinction a classification of non-fregean logics is presented as well. We believe that NFL must be considered as a many-leveled structure; each level taken separately may vary in different way – from classical to non-classical. It is not these levels themselves that we should call “fregean” or “non-fregean”, but the ways they are stuck together within the whole system. The more levels a system has, the more kinds of “fregean” and “non-fregean” we can find in it.
In article features of national and confessional self-identification of the Russian youth as parts of the title nation are considered. Ethnic and national consciousness are analyzed as significant components of process of individual and group self-identification. Research covers the studying and working youth which is arrived and which initially living in the city. The youth is the object which studying allows to predict regularities of social development in the future. Consideration of a problem considers multi-confessional, multi-ethnic and boundary in the geographical relation character of Ural as region. The emphasis is placed on specifics of behavior of representatives of title nation, as youth considerably defining a social portrait. The concept of the big city is used as steady, allocated with a number of characteristic features. Authors establish the reasons of the reduced interest to a religious and ethnic identification of with group at the young people belonging to different social groups and united by residence in the large city. The conditions necessary for an intensification of process of identification are defined. Means of updating of processes of formation of identity of youth are offered.
Students' internet usage attracts the attention of many researchers in different countries. Differences in internet penetration in diverse countries lead us to ask about the interaction of medium and culture in this process. In this paper we present an analysis based on a sample of 825 students from 18 Russian universities and discuss findings on particularities of students' ICT usage. On the background of the findings of the study, based on data collected in 2008-2009 year during a project "A сross-cultural study of the new learning culture formation in Germany and Russia", we discuss the problem of plagiarism in Russia, the availability of ICT features in Russian universities and an evaluation of the attractiveness of different categories of ICT usage and gender specifics in the use of ICT.