?
Probing the Relationship Between Group Identities of Russians and Ossetians in the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania: Intergenerational Analysis
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).
