Relationship between Motives of Constructing Ethnic Identity and Individual Values among Russian High Schoolers from the Central and Far Eastern Regions of Russia

Objective. The aim of the study is to verification the hypothesis about the regional specificity of the relationship between the motives of constructing ethnic identity and individual values among Russian high schoolers from the central and far eastern regions of Russia.
Background. Youth are a particularly vulnerable group in situations of permanent uncertainty and atypical crises. It is therefore important to explore the resource potential of different types of social identity and its factors among young people.
Study design. We have conducted a comparative quantitative analysis of the results of the survey of the ethnic majority from the two mono-ethnic Russian regions (in May 2023).
Participants. Russian high schoolers ages 15 to 18 from Smolensk (185 Russians, M = 16,3, SD = 0,48, 59,5% of girls) and Khabarovsk (134 Russians, M = 16,8, SD = 0,72, 67,9% of girls) participated in the study.
Measurements. We used the Scale of Rapid Assessment of Ethnic Identity by N.M. Lebedeva, “Portrait Values Questionnaire” by S.H. Schwarz and author’s items formulated to assess motives of constructing ethnic identity.
Results. Most respondents clearly feel themselves to be members of the Russian ethnic group, but do not see ethnic identity as a significant resource for meeting important needs. The dominant value basis of ethnic identity motives for Russian high schoolers from Smolensk is the Tradition value, and for Russian high schoolers from Khabarovsk – the Achievement value and the Universalism-Nature value.
Conclusions. There is a regional specificity of formation and value bases of construction of the Russian ethnic identity among young members of the ethnic majority in conditions in mono-ethnic environment.

1. Analiticheskii otchet «Itogi monitoringa tsennostnykh orientatsii sovremennoi molodezhi 2022». Institut vospitaniya RAO [Elektronnyi resurs] [Analytical report "Results of monitoring the value orientations of today's youth in 2022"]. URL: https://youthlib.mirea.ru/ru/reader/2601 (Accessed 20.06.2023). (In Russ.).
2. Andreeva A.D., Lisichkina A.G., Brimova L.A. Vremennaya i zhiznennaya perspektiva kak motivatsionnyi tsentr samoopredeleniya v rannei yunosti: sravnitel'no-istoricheskoe issledovanie [A time and life perspective as a motivational center of self-determination in early adolescence: a comparative historical study] Teoreticheskaya i eksperimental'naya psikhologiya = Theoretical experimental psychology, 2021. Vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 6–15. (In Russ.).
3. Belinskaya E.P. Sovremennye issledovaniya identichnosti: ot strukturnoi opredelennosti k protsessual'nosti i nezavershennosti [Modern identity studies: from structural certainty to procedural incompleteness]. Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo universiteta. Psikhologiya i pedagogika = Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Psychology and Education, 2018. Vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 6–15. DOI:10.21638/11701/spbu16.2018.101 (In Russ.).
4. Bryzgalin E.A. Klyuchevye polozheniya o lichnostnykh tsennostyakh i smyslakh (po materialam otechestvennykh i zarubezhnykh nauchnykh istochnikov) [Fundamentals about personal values and meanings (based on materials from Russian and foreign scientific sources]. Teoreticheskaya i eksperimental'naya psikhologiya = Theoretical experimental psychology, 2022, no. 2(15), pp. 46–66. DOI:10.24412/2073-0861-2022-2-46-66 (In Russ.).
5. Bublik M.M. Psikhosemanticheskoe prostranstvo etnicheskoi identichnosti molodezhi: avtoref. diss. kand. psikhol. nauk. [Psychosemantic space of ethnic identity of youth. Ph. D. (Psychology) Thesis]. Saint Petersburg, 2014. 28 р. (In Russ.).
6. Lebedeva N.M. Etnicheskaya identichnost' i blagopoluchie russkikh na postsovetskom prostranstve: rol' diaspory [Ethnic identity and psychological well-being of russians in post-soviet space: the role of diaspora]. Kul'turno-istoricheskaya psikhologiya = Cultural-historical psychology, 2021. Vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 16–24. DOI:10.17759/chp.2021170402 (In Russ.).
7. Lepshokova Z.Kh. Inklyuzivnye i eksklyuzivnye identichnosti i kontakty: rol' tsennostei i statusa etnicheskoi gruppy [Inclusive and exclusive identities and contacts: the role of values and status of ethnic group]. Natsional'nyi psikhologicheskii zhurnal = National Psychological Journal, 2021, no. 2(42), pp. 61–75. DOI:10.11621/npj.2021.0206 (In Russ.).
8. Lyudi budushchego: tsennosti i orientiry sovremennoi rossiiskoi molodezhi [Elektronnyi resurs] [People of the future: values and guidelines of modern Russian youth]. URL: https://wciom.ru/expertise/ljudi-budushchego-cennosti-i-orientiry-sovremennoi-rossiiskoi-molodezhi (Accessed 10.07.2023). (In Russ.).
9. Magun V.S., Rudnev M.G. Za predelami «cheloveka sovetskogo»: rossiyane v evropeiskoi tsennostnoi tipologii[Beyond the “Soviet Man”: Russians in the European Value Typology]. In Rogov K. (ed.). Demontazh kommunizma. Tridtsat' let spustya [Dismantling Communism. Thirty years later]. Moscow: Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, 2021, pp. 325–353. (In Russ.).
10. Radaev V.V. Millenialy na fone predshestvuyushchikh pokolenii: empiricheskii analiz [Millennials compared to previous generations: an empirical analysis]. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya = Sociological research, 2018, no. 3, pp. 15–33. DOI:10.7868/S0132162518030029 (In Russ.).
11. Regiony Rossii. Osnovnye kharakteristiki sub"ektov Rossiiskoi Federatsii. 2021: Stat. sb. [Regions of Russia. The main characteristics of the subjects of the Russian Federation. 2021: Statistical compendium] Rosstat [Federal State Statistics Service]. Moscow, 2021. 766 p. (In Russ.).
12. Reiting rossiiskikh regionov po kachestvu zhizni – 2022 [Rating of Russian regions by quality of life – 2022] RIA Novosti. 13.02.2023 [Russian news agency "Novosti". 13.02.2023]. URL:https://ria.ru/20230213/kachestvo_zhizni-1850749274.html (Accessed 20.06.2023). (In Russ.).
13. Rudnev M., Magun V. Tsennostnyi konsensus i faktory tsennostnoi differentsiatsii naseleniya Rossii i drugikh evropeiskikh stran [Consensus and Determinants of Value Differentiation in Russia and Other European Countries]. Vestnik obshchestvennogo mneniya = Bulletin of Public Opinion, 2011, no. 4(110), p. 81–96. (In Russ.).
14. 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.).
15. Soldatova G.U., Rasskazova E.I., Nestik T.A. Tsifrovoe pokolenie Rossii: kompetentnost' i bezopasnost' [Digital generation of Russia: competence and security]. Moscow: Smysl, 2017. 375 p. (In Russ.).
16. Soldatova G.U., Chigar'kova S.V., Ilyukhina S.N. Ya-real'noe i Ya-virtual'noe: identifikatsionnye matritsy podrostkov i vzroslykh [Real-Self and Virtual-Self: Identity Matrices of Adolescents and Adults]. Kul'turno-istoricheskaya psikhologiya = Cultural-historical psychology, 2022. Vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 27–37. DOI:10.17759/chp.2022180403 (In Russ.).
17. Stepanova G.S. Osobennosti etnicheskoi identichnosti russkikh: problemy i perspektivy issledovaniya [Features of Ethnic Identity of Russians: Research Issues and Perspectives]. Sotsial'naya psikhologiya i obshchestvo = Social Psychology and Society, 2012. Vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 41–52. (In Russ.).
18. Stefanenko T.G. Etnicheskaya identichnost': ot etnologii k sotsial'noi psikhologii [Ethnic identity: from ethnology to social psychology]. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Seriya 14: Psikhologiya = Moscow University Psychology Bulletin, 2009, no. 2, pp. 3–17. (In Russ.).
19. Tatarko A.N., Lebedeva N.M. Metody etnicheskoi I krosskul’turnoi psikhologii [Methods of ethnic and cross-cultural psychology]. Moscow: NIU VShE, 2011. 163 p. (In Russ.).
20. Chebotareva E.Yu. Etnicheskaya identichnost' molodezhi v polietnicheskoi srede [Ethnic identity of young people in polyethnic environment]. Vestnik Rossiiskogo universiteta druzhby narodov. Seriya: Psikhologiya i pedagogika = RUDN Journal of Psychology and Pedagogics, 2012, no. 1, pp. 22–28. (In Russ.).
21. Shatene K. Psikhologiya tsennostei [Psychology of values]. Kharkiv: Gumanitarnyi Tsentr, 2021. (In Russ.).
22. Shvarts Sh., Butenko T.P., Sedova D.S., Lipatova A.S. Utochnennaya teoriya bazovykh individual’nykh tsennostei: primenenie v Rossii [Refined theory of basic individual values: application in Russia]. Psikhologiya. Zhurnal Vysshei shkoly ekonomiki = Psychology. Journal of the Higher School of Economics, 2012. Vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 43–70. (In Russ.).
23. Erikson E. Identichnost': yunost' i krizis [Identity: youth and crisis]. Moscow: Flinta: MPSI: Progress, 2006. 352 p. (In Russ.).
24. Yanitskii M.S. [i dr.] Sistema tsennostnykh orientatsii «pokoleniya Z»: sotsial'nye, kul'turnye i demograficheskie determinant [The Value Orientations System of Generation Z: Social, Cultural and Demographic Determinants]. Sibirskii psikhologicheskii zhurnal = Siberian Journal of Psychology, 2019, no. 72, pp. 46–67. DOI:10.17223/17267080/72/3 (In Russ.).
25. Bardi A., et.al. Values and Identity Process Theory: Theoretical integration and empirical interactions. In: Jaspal R., Breakwell G. (Eds.). Identity Process Theory: Identity, Social Action and Social Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014, pp. 175–200. DOI:10.1017/CBO9781139136983.013
26. Batory-Ginda A.M. Strengthening Identity by Affirming One’s Most Important Values. Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 2022. Vol. 35, no. 3, pp. 1079–1094. DOI:10.1080/10720537.2021.1929598
27. Crapolicchio E., et.al. Identity Threats and Individual, Relational, and Social Resources among Refugees in Italy. Social Sciences, 2023. Vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 149. DOI:10.3390/socsci12030149
28. Easterbrook M., Vignoles V.L. Different groups, different motives: Identity motives underlying changes in identification with novel groups. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 2012. Vol. 38, pp. 1066–1080.
29. Inglehart R., Welzel C. Modernization, Cultural Change, and Democracy: The Human Development Sequence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. 344 p.
30. Schwartz S.H. et.al. Refining the Theory of Basic Individual Values. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2012. Vol. 103, no. 4, pp. 663–688. DOI:10.1037/a0029393
31. Tajfel H. Social identity and intergroup relations. Cambridge University Press, 2010. 546 p.
32. Tajfel H., Turner J. The social identity theory of intergroup behavior. In: Worchel S., Austin W.G. (eds.). Psychology of intergroup relations. Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1986, pp. 7–24.
33. Vignoles V.L., Manzi C. Identity motives. In: Michalos A.C. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Quality of Life Research. Dordrecht: Springer, 2014, pp. 3061–3064.
34. Vignoles V.L. Identity Motives. In: Schwartz S., Luyckx K., Vignoles V. (eds). Handbook of Identity Theory and Research. Springer, New York, NY, 2011, pp. 403–432. DOI:10.1007/978-1-4419-7988-9_18