Acculturation Attitudes and Psychological Well-Being of Russians in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan: The Moderating Role of Perceived Security

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Abstract

More than 400 thousand Russians remain in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan after the collapse of the USSR. They have to adapt to the changing conditions, and it is important to study the factors that determine their psychological well-being. This study focuses on the moderating role of perceived security in the relationship between acculturation attitudes and psychological well-being of the Russians in the two Central Asian countries. The sample included 578 respondents. In the study, we used scales from the MIRIPS questionnaire and carried out analysis using the moderation models 1 and 3. The results showed that for the Russians in both countries, when perceived security was low, separation attitudes promoted self-esteem, while assimilation attitudes decreased it. The study also revealed the role of the context: in Tajikistan (less favorable context for the Russians), assimilation attitudes contributed to life satisfaction in situations of high perceived security, while in Kyrgyzstan (more favorable context) it was integration attitudes that determined life satisfaction when perceived security was high or medium. We may conclude that the context determines the preference of acculturation strategy that provides the Russians with life satisfaction in the situation of perceived security: the assimilation strategy in Tajikistan, and the integration strategy in Kyrgyzstan.

General Information

Keywords: perceived security, acculturation attitudes, psychological well-being, Russians, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan

Journal rubric: Empirical Research

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/chp.2021170404

Funding. The reported study was funded by Russian Science Foundation (RSF), project number 20-18-00268

Received: 18.08.2021

Accepted:

For citation: Galyapina V.N. Acculturation Attitudes and Psychological Well-Being of Russians in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan: The Moderating Role of Perceived Security. Kul'turno-istoricheskaya psikhologiya = Cultural-Historical Psychology, 2021. Vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 34–45. DOI: 10.17759/chp.2021170404.

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Information About the Authors

Victoria N. Galyapina, Doctor of Psychology, Professor of School of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chief Researcher at the Center for Sociocultural Research, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4122-6455, e-mail: vgalyapina@hse.ru

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