The Relationship of Acculturation and Bullying in Russian Schools

Abstract

Russian schools have been characterized by its ethnic diversity over the past decade. Children from ethnic minorities in Russia face problems in acculturation, including school bullying. The purpose of this article is to determine the relationship between the acculturation strategies of ethnic minority students, acculturation expectations of Russian students, and their roles in school bullying situations. We conducted a social psychological survey among a sample of 429 students, 200 of whom were Russian (M age = 16.18, SD age = 1.43) and 229 were members of ethnic minorities (M age = 15.67, SD age = 1.65). It was used scales from the MIRIPS and the Revised Olweus Bully Victim Questionnaire (Russian version). The results of the study showed significant differences in the level of victimization. It was also found that acculturation expectation of segregation was positively related to victimization (β = 0.24, p-value <0.01), and aggression (β = 0.18, p-value < 0.01) among Russian students, whereas acculturation strategy of segregation was positively related to victimization (β = 0. 40, p-value < 0.01), assimilation strategy positively (β = 0.07, p-value < 0.01), and integration strategy negatively (β = –0.05, p-value < 0.05) related to aggression among ethnic minorities. The results of the study are discussed in terms of a sociocultural approach using psychological theories and research.