Multiple Identities, Acculturation and Adaptation of Russians in Latvia and Georgia

1506

Abstract

The article presents the results of a comparative study examining the relationship between different types of social identity (ethnic, national, and place identity), acculturation strategies (assimilation, integration), and psychological adaptation (satisfaction with life and self-esteem) of Russians in two sociocultural contexts: Latvia and Georgia. Participants were 320 Russians in Latvia (M = 42,89; SD = 21,19), and 312 Russians in Georgia (M = 31,11; SD = 11,67). Path analysis was used to test the relationships. The results showed that national and place identities related to integration in both countries. Direct effects of place identity on psychological well-being are universal for the studied countries, while relationships of national and ethnic identities with well-being are context specific. Indirect positive effects of national and place identities on self-esteem through integration are universal in Latvia and Georgia.

General Information

Keywords: ethnic identity, national identity, place identity, integration, adaptation, acculturation strategies, ethnic minorities

Journal rubric: Empirical Research

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/chp.2019150206

Funding. The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (project № 15-18-00029).

For citation: Ryabichenko T.A., Lebedeva N.M., Plotka I.D. Multiple Identities, Acculturation and Adaptation of Russians in Latvia and Georgia. Kul'turno-istoricheskaya psikhologiya = Cultural-Historical Psychology, 2019. Vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 54–64. DOI: 10.17759/chp.2019150206. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

References

  1. Vardanyan T. Gruziya: identichnost’ v politicheskikh programmakh i deistvii [Georgia: identity in political programs and action]. 21-i vek. Informatsionno-analiticheskii zhurnal [21st century. Informational and analytical journal], 2010, no. 3, pp. 48—69.
  2. Lebedeva N.M., Tatarko A.N. (eds.), Strategii mezhkul’turnogo vzaimodeistviya migrantov i naseleniya Rossii [Strategies of intercultural interaction of migrants and the host population in Russia]. Moscow. Publ. Rossiiskii universitet druzhby narodov, 2009. 420 p.
  3. Lebedeva N. M. (ed.). Mezhkul’turnye otnosheniya na postsovetskom prostranstve [Intercultural relations on Post- Soviet space]. Moscow. Publ. Menedzher, 2017. 492 p.
  4. Ryabichenko T. A. Assimilyatsiya ili integratsiya: rol’ tsennostei «Samoutverzhdenie» [Assimilation or integration: the role of Self-Enhancement values]. Sotsial’naya psikhologiya i obshchestvo [Social psychology and society], 2016. Vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 93-104. (In Russ., abstr. in Engl.). doi:10.17759/ sps.2016070307
  5. Arbuckle J.L. Amos (Version 20.0) [Computer Program]. Chicago: SPSS, 2011. 680 р.
  6. Arends-Tóth J., van de Vijver F. Issues in the conceptualization and assessment of acculturation. In Bornstein M., Cote L. (eds), Acculturation and parent-child relationships: measurement and development. Erlbaum, Mahwah, 2006, pp. 33—62.
  7. Berry J. W. Immigration, acculturation, and adaptation. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 1997. Vol. 46, pp. 5—68. doi:10.1111/j.1464-0597.1997.tb01087.x
  8. Berry, J. W. Living successfully in two cultures. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 2005. Vol. 29, pp. 697—712. doi:10.1016/j.ijintrel.2005.07.013
  9. Berry J. W., Phinney J. S., Sam D. L., Vedder P. Immigrant youth: Acculturation, identity, and adaptation. Applied Psychology, 2006. Vol. 55, pp. 303—332. doi:10.1111/ j.1464-0597.2006.00256.x
  10. Berry J. W., Sabatier C. Variations in the assessment of acculturation attitudes: Their relationships with psychological wellbeing. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 2011. Vol. 35, pp. 658—669. doi:10.1016/j.ijintrel.2011.02.002
  11. Birman D., Persky I., Chan W. Y. Multiple identities of Jewish immigrant adolescents from the former Soviet Union: An exploration of salience and impact of ethnic identity. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 2010, no. 34 (3), pp. 193—205. doi:10.1177/0165025409350948
  12. Diener E., Emmons R. A., Larsen R. J., Griffin S. The Satisfaction with Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 1985. Vol. 49, pp. 71—75. doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa4901_13
  13. Droseltis O., Vignoles V. Towards an integrative model of place identification: Dimensionality and predictors of intrapersonal-level place preferences. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 2010, no. 30, pp. 23—34. doi:10.1016/j. jenvp.2009.05.006
  14. GeoStat 2016. 2014 General Population Census: Main Results. National Statistics Office of Georgia, Tbilisi. 2016. Available at: http://geostat.ge/cms/site_images/_files/english/population/Census_release_ENG_2016.pdf (Accessed 9.10.2018)
  15. Grigoryev D., van de Vijver F., Batkhina A. Discordance of acculturation attitudes of the host population and their dealing with immigrants. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 2018, pp. 1—20. doi:10.1080/17475 759.2018.1497678
  16. Haslam S.A., Ellemers N., Reicher S., Reynolds K.J., Schmitt M. Social identity tomorrow: Opportunities and avenues for advance. In T. Postmes and N. Branscombe (eds), Rediscovering Social Identity: Core Sources. 2010. Psychology Press, pp. 357—379.
  17. Hazans M. Labor Market Integration of Ethnic Minorities in Latvia . Eds. by M. Kahanec, K.F. Zimmermann. Ethnic Diversity in European Labour Market Chalenges and Solutions, 2011. 336 p. doi:10.4337/9780857930613.00013
  18. Ivlevs A., King R. M. 2004 Minority Education Reform and pupil performance in Latvia. Economics of Education Review, 2014. Vol. 38, pp. 151—166. doi:10.1016/j. econedurev.2013.08.010
  19. Jasinskaja-Lahti I., Horenczyk G., Kinunen T. Time and context in the relationship between acculturation attitudes and adaptation among Russian-speaking immigrants in Finland and Israel. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 2011. Vol. 37, pp. 1423—1440. doi:10.1080/1369183X.2011.623617
  20. Kus-Harbord L., Ward C. Ethnic Russians in post- Soviet Estonia: Perceived devaluation, acculturation, wellbeing, and ethnic attitudes. International Perspectives in Psychology: Research, Practice, Consultation, 2015. Vol. 4 (1), pp. 66—81. doi:10.1037/ipp0000025
  21. Liebkind K. Acculturation. In R. Brown S. Gaertner (Eds.). Blackwell handbook of social psychology: Intergroup processes. Oxford: Blackwell, 2001, pp. 386—406.
  22. Liebkind K., Mähönen T.A.E., Varjonen S.A., Jasinskaja-Lahti I. Acculturation and identity. In D.L. Sam, J.W. Berry (eds.), Cambridge handbook of acculturation psychology (2nd ed.), 2016. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, pp. 30—49. doi:10.1017/ CBO9781316219218.004
  23. Muiznieks N., Rozenvalds J., Birka I. Ethnicity and social cohesion in the post-Soviet Baltic states. Patterns of Prejudice, 2013. Vol. 47(3), pp. 288—308. doi:10.1080/00313 22X.2013.812349
  24. Nguyen A.D., Benet-Martínez V. Biculturalism and adjustment: A meta-analysis. Journal of Cross- Cultural Psychology, 2013. Vol. 44, pp. 122—159. doi:10.1177/0022022111435097
  25. Nilsson N., Popjanevski J., Metreveli E., Yakobashvili T. State Approaches to National Integration in Georgia: Two Perspectives. Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and Silk Road Studies Program — A Joint Transatlantic Research and Policy Center, 2009. 66 p.
  26. Phinney J.S., Devich-Navarro M. Variations in bicultural identification among African American and Mexican American adolescents. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 1997, no. 7, pp. 3—32.
  27. Phinney J.S., Horenczyk G., Liebkind K., Vedder P. Ethnic identity, immigration, and well-being: An interactional perspective. Journal of Social Issues, 2001. Vol. 57 (3), pp. 493— 510. doi:10.1111/0022-4537.00225
  28. Piontkowski U., Rohmann A., Florack A. Concordance of acculturation attitudes and perceived threat. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 2002, no. 5, pp. 221—232. doi:10.1177/1368430202005003003
  29. Qazimi S. Sense of Place and Place Identity. European Journal of Social Education and Research, 2014. Vol. 1 (1), pp. 306—310. doi:10.26417/ejser.v1i1.p306-310
  30. Regelmann A. — Ch. Introduction — Minority Participation in Estonia and Latvia. Journal on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe, 2014. Vol. 13 (1), pp. 1—18.
  31. Rosenberg M. Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1965. 326 p. doi:10.1515/9781400876136
  32. Sabanadze N. States, Minorities and Regional Hegemons in the South Caucasus: Whose Responsibility to Protect. In Palermo, F. and Sabanadze N. (eds.), National Minorities in Inter-State Relations, OSCE HCNM, 2011. 171 p. doi:10.1163/ej.9789004175983.i-274.54
  33. Shafir G. Immigrants and Nationalists: Ethnic Conflict and Accommodation in Catalonia, the Basque Country, Latvia, and Estonia. New York: State University of New York Press, 1995. 296 p.
  34. Schwartz S.J., Vignoles V.L., Brown R., Zagefka H. The identity dynamics of acculturation and multiculturalism: Situating acculturation in context. In V. Benet-Martínez, Y.-Y. Hong (Eds.), Oxford library of psychology. The Oxford handbook of multicultural identity, 2014, New York, NY, US: Oxford University Press, pp. 57—93. doi:10.1093/ oxfordhb/9780199796694.013.014
  35. Statistical Yearbook of Latvia 2015. Riga: Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia, 2016, 588 p.
  36. Suanet-Galchenko I., van de Vijver Fons J.R. The Role of Perceived Ethnic Vitality in Acculturation among Russian Emigrants to France, Germany, and the Netherlands. Russian Journal of Communication, 2008. Vol. 1 (4), pp. 412—435. doi:1 0.1080/19409419.2008.10756728
  37. Ulasiuk I. National Minorities and Migration in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine. CARIM-East RR 2013/33, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies. San Domenico di Fiesole (FI): European University Institute, 2013. 51 p.
  38. Ward C., Geeraert N. Advancing acculturation theory and research: The acculturation process in its ecological context. Current Opinion in Psychology, 2016. Vol. 8, pp. 98— 104. doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.09.021
  39. Ward C., Rana-Deuba A. Acculturation and adaptation revisited. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 1999. Vol. 30 (4), pp. 422—442. doi:10.1177/0022022199030004003
  40. Wheatley J. Managing ethnic diversity in Georgia: one step forward, two steps back. Central Asian Survey, 2009. Vol. 28 (2), pp. 119—134. doi:10.1080/02634930903034880

Information About the Authors

Tatiana A. Ryabichenko, PhD in Psychology, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, NNational Research University “Higher School of Economics”, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4518-5769, e-mail: tanarimail@gmail.com

Nadezhda M. Lebedeva, Doctor of Psychology, Professor, Director of the Center for Socio-Cultural Research, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Employee of the Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2046-4529, e-mail: lebedhope@yandex.ru

Irina D. Plotka, Doctor of Psychology, The Head of the Department Psychology, Professor, Baltic Psychology and Management University College, the Director of Professional Master Study Programme "Psychology", Riga, Latvia., Baltic international Academy, Riga, Latvia, e-mail: irinaplotka@inbox.lv

Metrics

Views

Total: 2395
Previous month: 11
Current month: 13

Downloads

Total: 1506
Previous month: 8
Current month: 6