Intercultural Relations in Georgia and Tajikistan: A Post-Conflict Model

Psychology. Journal of the Higher School of Economics. 2019. Vol. 16. No. 2. P. 232–249.

Berry J. W., Galyapina V. N., Lebedeva N., Lepshokova Z., Ryabichenko T.

The paper presents the results of two studies of intercultural relations in post-Soviet Georgia and Tajikistan. These countries have in common a sharp decline in cultural diversity as a result of wars and conflicts, and this model of intercultural relations on post-Soviet space was identified as a post-conflict model. The goal of this study was to evaluate three hypotheses of intercultural relations: multiculturalism, contact and integration (Berry, 2017) among majority members and the ethnic Russian minorities. We surveyed 312 Ethnic Russians and 298 Georgians in Georgia; 277 Ethnic Russians and 317 Tajiks in Tajikistan. The studies used scales from the MIRIPS questionnaire. To test the three hypotheses of intercultural relations we followed a Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach. The multiculturalism hypothesis found partial support in all four groups in Georgia and Tajikistan. The contact hypothesis received partial support in Tajiks and in Ethnic Russians in Georgia and was not supported among Ethnic Russians in Tajikistan and Georgians. The integration hypothesis was fully supported in Tajiks and Ethnic Russians in Georgia, partially supported among Ethnic Russians in Tajikistan and was not supported among Georgians. The results obtained in these two countries are discussed taking into consideration the sociocultural contexts and recent history of wars and conflicts.

Keywords: Грузия, мультикультурализм, интеграция, Таджикистан, integration, multiculturalism, этническое меньшинство, ethnic minority, межкультурные отношения, Georgia, intercultural relations, Tajikistan, contacts, ethnic majority, этническое большинство, post-Soviet, контакты, постсоветский