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Ретроспективное исследование становления этнической идентичности в детском возрасте: анализ этнических автобиографий старшеклассников
The problem of developing ethnic identity is one of the fundamental and insufficiently studied, especially in children whose socialisation takes place in an ethnically homogeneous environment. Objective: retrospective study of developing ethnic identity in high school students living in the mono-ethnic Russian region, Smolensk Region. Research questions: At what age do children living in a mono-ethnic environment acquire the first information about their own and other ethnic groups? What feelings do children experience about their ethnic group in the process of identifying with it? What is the role of the family in developing the ethnic identity of children? Participants: 188 students aged 15-18; mean age is 16; females composed 59.5%; 98.4% identified themselves as Russian. Methods: method "Ethnic autobiography" by P.V. Rumyantseva. The results of the study were processed using the methods of frequency and content analysis. Results: most of the schoolchildren acquired their first knowledge about Russian and other ethnic groups at preschool and primary school age and experienced positive feelings about their ethnicity. One third of high school students showed an indifferent attitude towards their ethnicity. The contribution of the family to developing ethnic identity in a mono-ethnic environment weakens in a situation when parents belong to different nationalities or children do not know their nationality. Main conclusions. Ethnic identity development in most high school students living in a mono-ethnic Russian environment takes place in the process of family upbringing, is stable, without special disturbances and changes, and is characterized by a positive attitude to belonging to the Russian ethnic group. At the same time, indifferent attitude of some high school students to their ethnicity, may, on the one hand, indicate its irrelevance and insignificance for children living in a mono-ethnic environment, and, on the other hand, it can be regarded as an indicator of a "hidden" identity, which can be actualized under certain conditions.