Individual values and perceived discrimination as predictors for the formation of russian identity

Abstract

The concept of identity is increasingly becoming an object of study in many social sciences. Identity plays one of the main roles in the context of growing globalization processes. The ethnic and civic identity of Russians, having become important elements of social identity, are markers of socio-economic and political changes. Scientists came to the conclusion that the formation of civil and ethnic identity occurs in the process of socialization under the influence of various factors of the sociocultural context - cultural, historical, political and economic. In the presented study, the emphasis is on checking the influence of two factors on the formation of the identity of Russians - cultural and historical. Individual values act as indicators of the cultural factor, and perceived ethnic and civil discrimination serve as indicators of the historical factor. The study was conducted with the participation of 1014 respondents. The average age of the studied sample was 41 years. The study revealed the ethnic and civic identity of Russians, their dominant values, as well as perceived ethnic and civic discrimination. It has been established that the cultural factor has the most significant impact on ethnic and civic identity, while the historical factor has a much smaller impact on these variables. At the same time, perceived civic discrimination has the least impact on the formation of ethnic and civic identity. It was also found that the key positive regressor in relation to the civil and ethnic identity of Russians is the value of “tradition”.