The Impact of Social Intelligence on the Adaptation of Migrant Workers in the Context of the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic that has taken over the world has affected all areas of human life. Labor migrants turned out to be one of the most vulnerable social groups before the pandemic. Russia is currently in a state of depopulation - migrants are strategically needed for the country: both as a labor force and as future citizens of the country. The 21st century is called the century of social intelligence, since there is more and more data on the importance of this type of intelligence in sociocultural reality. One of the features of social intelligence is the ability to adapt, correctly evaluate and adequately respond to new life situations. The aim of this work was to assess the impact of social intelligence on the adaptation of labor migrants from Central Asian countries in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of the study, the following patterns were found: the higher the level of social intelligence, the less often respondents lost their jobs during the pandemic; were more likely to maintain or increase their income levels; more often transferred money to their homeland; there were fewer conflicts in the immediate environment of the migrant. During the pandemic, migrant phobia among the local population increased in Russia, but respondents with average and above average social intelligence did not notice a change in the attitude of local residents towards themselves. The results obtained prove that labor migrants with average and above average social intelligence are better adapted to the conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic than migrants with below average social intelligence.