The Importance of Civil, Ethnic and Regional Identity for Residents from Small Russian Towns and its Determinants

697

Abstract

Objective. The objective of the study is to analyze the subjective significance attached by residents of small towns to civil, ethnic and regional identities and to identify its determinants. Background. The growth of uncertainty and social and economic instability in society actualize the processes in the social identification of the person. Under these conditions the study of civic, ethnic and regional identities of residents from provincial towns in the Russian Federation as an important resource for group solidarity is of particular importance. Study design. The authors rely on H. Tajfel and J. Turner’s theory of social identity. We conducted a survey among residents in the town Belev, Tula region, and the town Staritsa, Tver region, characterized by mono-ethnicity, negative demographic dynamics, remoteness from the capital and its regional centers. Participants. The study involved 600 ethnic Russians (50.8% women). The quota sample in both towns included three age groups: 16—29 years old, 30—49 years old, 50 and older, each group included 100 people. Measurements. The questionnaire was developed and tested at the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences. The questions are aimed at determining the identification degree of respondents with various social groups, as well as assessing satisfaction with various aspects of life and confidence in their own future and the future of their town. For data processing we used methods of descriptive statistics, Student’s t-test, multiple regression analysis, SPSS 18.0. Results. We have found high rates of subjective significance of civic, ethnic and regional identities for respondents. Moreover residents of small towns identify themselves more with representatives of their folk, less with residents of their town/region and even less with citizens of their country. The determinants of the subjective significance in the investigated types of identity for old people are satisfaction with various aspects of life, while residents in town Belev have unlimited love for their native town, pride and faith in its future prosperity. Conclusions. The study showed that residents of small towns are looking for reliance, support and protection, primarily in identification with their ethnic group. The resource for maintaining positive self-determination is also regional identity. Moreover regional identity in this case plays an important consolidating role acting as a mechanism for the social integration of civil society.

General Information

Keywords: civil identity, ethnic identity, regional identity, subjective significance of identity, determinants of identity subjective significance, residents of a small town

Journal rubric: Empirical Research

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/sps.2020110412

For citation: Gritsenko V.V., Ostapenko L.V., Subbotina I.A. The Importance of Civil, Ethnic and Regional Identity for Residents from Small Russian Towns and its Determinants. Sotsial'naya psikhologiya i obshchestvo = Social Psychology and Society, 2020. Vol. 11, no. 4, pp. 165–181. DOI: 10.17759/sps.2020110412. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

References

 

1.        Abramova M.A., Goncharova G.S., Kostyuk V.G. Sotsiokul’turnaya adaptatsiya molodezhi Severa k usloviyam sovremennoi transformatsii [Sociocultural adaptation of the youth of the North to the conditions of modern transformation]. Novosibirsk: Publ. Izdatel’sko-poligraficheskii dom «Nonparel’», 2011. 330 p. (In Russ.).

2.        Antonova N.L., Busygin A.G. Identichnost’ kak sotsial’nyi fenomen: teoretiko-metodologicheskie osnovaniya sotsial’nogo konstruktivizma [Identity as a social phenomenon: theoretical and methodological foundations of social constructivism]. Teoriya i praktika obshchestvennogo razvitiya = Theory and practice of social development, 2019, no. 2 (132), pp. 12—16. (In Russ.).

3.        Arutyunova E.M. Gosudarstvenno-grazhdanskaya i etnicheskaya identichnosti molodezhi: obshcherossiiskii kontekst i regional’naya spetsifika [State-civil and ethnic identity of youth: All- Russian context and regional specificity]. Rossiya reformiruyushchayasya = Russia is reformed. Ezhegodnik. Vyp. 15. In M.K. Gorshkov (ed). M.: Novyi Khronograf, 2017, pp. 259—272. (In Russ.).

4.        Volkogonova O.D., Belousov S.O. Fenomen regional’noi identichnosti kak faktor politicheskogo protsessa v Rossii [The phenomenon of regional identity as a factor in the political process in Russia]. Rossiya i sovremennyi mir = Russia and the modern world, 2009, no. 1 (62), pp. 49—62. (In Russ.).

5.        Gal’chenko A.S. Metodologicheskie problemy issledovaniya grazhdanskoi identichnosti kak psikhologicheskogo fenomena [Methodological problems of research of civil identity as a psychological phenomenon]. Nauchnyi rezul’tat. Pedagogika i psikhologiya obrazovaniya = Scientific Result. Education and psychology of education, 2018, no. 4, pp. 107—117. DOI:10.18413/2313-8971- 2018-4-4-0-10 (In Russ.).

6.        Grazhdanskaya, etnicheskaya i regional’naya identichnost’: vchera, segodnya, zavtra [Civil, ethnic and regional identity: yesterday, today, tomorrow]. In. L.M. Drobizheva (ed.). Moscow: Publ ROSSPEN, 2013. 485 p. (In Russ.).

7.        Gritsenko V.V. Etnicheskaya identichnost’ i sotsial’no-psikhologicheskaya adaptatsiya [Ethnic Identity and Social-Psychological Adaptation]. Izvestiya Saratovskogo universiteta. Seriya Filosofiya. Psikhologiya. Pedagogika = Izvestiya of Saratov University. Series philosophy. Psychology. Pedagogy, 2006. Vol. 6, no. 1—2, pp. 62—70. (In Russ.).

8.        Gritsenko V.V., Subbotina I.A. Sotsial’noe samochuvstvie i adaptatsiya [Social well-being and adaptation]. In Ostapenko L.V., Subbotina I.A. (Eds.) Etnoregional’nye modeli adaptatsii. Postsovetskie praktiki [Ethno-regional models of adaptation. Post-Soviet practices]. Moscow: Publ. IEA RAN, 2008, pp. 45—82. (In Russ.).

9.        Denisova G.S., Klimenko L.V. Osobennosti regional’noi identichnosti naseleniya Yuga Rossii [Features of the regional identity of the population of the South of Russia]. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya = Sociological studies, 2013, no. 7, pp. 25—34. (In Russ.).

10.    Drobizheva L.M. Obshcherossiiskaya identichnost’ i uroven’ natsional’nogo soglasiya kak otrazhenie vektora konsolidatsionnykh protsessov [Elektronnyi resurs] [All-Russian identity and the level of national consent as a reflection of the vector of consolidation processes]. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya = Sociological studies, 2017, no. 1. Available at: http://socis.isras.ru/ files/File/2017/2017_1/Drobizheva.pdf (Accessed: 20.07.2019). (In Russ.).

11.    Eremina E.V., Retinskaya V.N. Regional’naya i grazhdanskaya identichnost’: vzaimosvyaz’ i mekhanizmy formirovaniya [Regional and civic identity: the relationship and mechanisms of formation]. Sotsial’no-gumanitarnye znaniya = Social and humanitarian knowledge, 2016, no. 9, pp. 190—197. (In Russ.).

12.    Krasnopol’skaya I.I., Solodova G.S. Sotsial’noe konstruirovanie etnichnosti [Social construction of ethnicity]. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya = Sociological studies, 2013, no. 12, pp. 26—34. (In Russ.).

13.    Makarova G. Dinamika rossiiskoi, regional’noi i etnicheskoi identichnostei v Tatarstane [Dynamics of Russian, regional and ethnic identities in Tatarstan]. Rossiya i musul’manskii mir = Russia and the Muslim world, 2011, no. 11, pp. 37—43. (In Russ.).

14.    Maksimov M.B., Maksimova S.G., Avdeeva G.S., Noyanzina O.E. Grazhdanskaya, etnicheskaya i religioznaya identichnosti: regional’noe izmerenie [Civil, ethnic and religious identities: regional dimension]. Vestnik Altaiskogo gosudarstvennogo agrarnogo universiteta = Bulletin of Altai State Agrarian University, 2015, no. 11 (133), pp. 167—171. (In Russ.).

15.    Osipova O.V., Maklashova E.G. Identichnosti molodezhi Arktiki [The identity of the youth in the Arctic]. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya = Sociological studies, 2015, no. 5, pp. 139—144. (In Russ.).

16.    Ostapenko L.V., Starchenko R.A., Subbotina I.A. Russkaya molodezh’ Moskvy (sotsial’no-demograficheskie i etno-kul’turnye kharakteristiki). Polevaya etnostatistika [Russian youth of Moscow (socio-demographic and ethno-cultural characteristics). Field ethnostatistics]. Moscow: Publ. IEA RAN, 2018. 184 p. (In Russ.).

17.    Ostapenko L.V., Subbotina I.A. Moskva mnogonatsional’naya. Starozhily i migranty: vmeste ili ryadom? [Moscow is multinational. Old-timers and migrants: together or nearby?]. Moscow: Publ. RUDN, 2007. 350 p. (In Russ.).

18.    Ostapenko L.V., Subbotina I.A., Nesterova S.L. Russkie v Moldavii. Dvadtsat’ let spustya... [Russian in Moldova. Twenty years later ...]. Moscow: Publ. IEA RAN, 2012. 350 p. (In Russ.).

19.    Pavlova O.S. Ob etnicheskoi, religioznoi i gosudarstvenno-grazhdanskoi identichnosti Chechentsev i Ingushei [On the ethnic, religious, and state-civil identity of Chechens and Ingus]. Sotsial’naya psikhologiya i obshchestvo = Social Psychology and Society, 2013. Vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 119— 136. (In Russ.).

20.    Porshnev B.F. Protivopostavlenie kak komponent etnicheskogo samosoznaniya [Opposition as a component of ethnic self-consciousness]. Moscow: Nauka, 1973. 88 p. (In Russ.).

21.    Ryabichenko T.A., Lebedeva N.M., Plotka I.D. Mnozhestvennye identichnosti, akkul’turatsiya i adaptatsiya russkikh v Latvii i Gruzii [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.).

22.    Stepanova G.S. Osobennosti etnicheskoi identichnosti russkikh: problemy i perspektivy issledovaniya [Features of the ethnic identity of Russians: problems and prospects of research]. Sotsial’naya psikhologiya i obshchestvo = Social Psychology and Society, 2012, no. 4, pp. 41—52. (In Russ.).

23.    Stefanenko T.G. Sotsial’naya psikhologiya etnicheskoi identichnosti. Diss. dokt. psikhol. nauk. [Social psychology of ethnic identity. Dr. Sci. (Psychology) diss.]. Moscow, 1999. 529 p. (In Russ.).

24.    Stolitsy i regiony v sovremennoi Rossii: mify i real’nost’ pyatnadtsat’ let spustya [Capitals and regions in modern Russia: myths and reality fifteen years later]. In M.K. Gorshkov, N.E. Tikhonova (ed.). Moscow: Publ. Ves’ mir, 2018. 312 p. (In Russ.).

25.    Ukaz Prezidenta Rossiiskoi Federatsii ot 19.12.2012 № 1666 (red. ot 06.12.2018) “O Strategii gosudarstvennoi natsional’noi politiki Rossiiskoi Federatsii na period do 2025 goda” [Decree of the President of the Russian Federation, December 19, 2012, № 1666 (ed. December 6, 2018) “On the Strategy of the State National Policy of the Russian Federation for the Period up to 2025”]. Available at: http://www.consultant.ru/document/cons_doc_LAW_139350 (Accessed 20.07.2019). (In Russ.).

26.    Chernikova V.V. Formirovanie regional’noi identichnosti v sovremennoi Rossii (na primere Voronezhskoi oblasti) [The formation of regional identity in modern Russia (on the example of the Voronezh region)]. Vestnik Voronezhskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya: Istoriya. Politologiya. Sotsiologiya = Bulletin of the Voronezh State University. Series: history. Political science. Sociology, 2013, no. 2, pp. 81—87. (In Russ.).

27.    Chechet B.F. Malaya Rodina kak forma identichnosti [Small Homeland as a form of identity]. Vestnik Angarskogo gosudarstvennogo tekhnicheskogo universiteta = Bulletin of the Angarsk State Technical University, 2017, no. 11, pp. 290—293. (In Russ.).

28.    Chislennost’ naseleniya Rossiiskoi Federatsii po munitsipal’nym obrazovaniyam na 1 yanvarya 2018 goda [The population of the Russian Federation by municipalities on January 1, 2018]. Available at: http://www.gks.ru/wps/wcm/connect/rosstat_main/rosstat/ru/statistics/ publications/catalog/afc8ea004d56a39ab251f2bafc3a6fce (Accessed 20.07.2019). (In Russ.).

29.    Shamionov R.M. Sootnoshenie stepeni emotsional’noi priverzhennosti k etnicheskoi gruppe, religioznosti i grazhdanskoi identichnosti i sub”ektivnogo blagopoluchiya lichnosti [The ratio of the degree of emotional commitment to an ethnic group, religiosity and civic identity and subjective well-being of a person]. Vestnik Udmurtskogo universiteta. Seriya Filosofiya. Psikhologiya. Pedagogika = Bulletin of the Udmurt University. Philosophy Series. Psychology. Pedagogy, 2016. Vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 107—112. (In Russ.).

30.    Abes E.S., Jones S.R., McEwen M.K. Reconceptualizing the model of multiple dimensions of identity: The roles of meaning-making capacity in the construction of multiple identities. Journal of college student development, 2007, no. 48 (1), pp. 1—22. DOI:10.1353/csd.2007.0000

31.    Akaev V. Formation of the civil nation in Russia: dynamics from local to all-russian form of identity. Nauchnyi al’manakh stran Prichernomor’ya = Scientific almanac of the Black Sea countries, 2017, no. 2 (10), pp. 1—7.

32.    Berzonsky M., Cieciuch J., Duriez В., Soenens В. The how and what of identity formation: Associations between identity styles and value orientations. Personality and Individual Differences, 2011, no. 50, pp. 295—299.

33.    Breakwell G.M. Resisting representations and identity processes. Papers on Social Representations, 2010, no. 19, pp. 6.1—6.11.

34.    Hogg M.A. Managing self-uncertainty through group identification. In М. Hogg (ed.). Psychological Inquiry, 2009, no. 20 (4), pp. 221—224.

35.    Tajfel H., Turner J.C. The social identity theory of intergroup behavior. Psychology of intergroup relations. In Worchel S., Austin W.G. (eds.). Chicago: Hall Publishers, 1986, pp. 7—24.

Information About the Authors

Valentina V. Gritsenko, Doctor of Psychology, Proffesor of the Department of Cross-cultural Psychology and Multicultural Education, Faculty of Social Psychology, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7543-5709, e-mail: gritsenko2006@yandex.ru

Lyubov V. Ostapenko, PhD in History, Senior Researcher of the Center for Interethnic Relations Studies, Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9049-104X, e-mail: lost_82@bk.ru

Irina A. Subbotina, PhD in History, Senior Researcher of the Center for Interethnic Relations Studies, Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9920-6559, e-mail: irinalsu@yandex.ru

Metrics

Views

Total: 617
Previous month: 26
Current month: 14

Downloads

Total: 697
Previous month: 18
Current month: 12