The Balance of Interethnic Attitudes as an Indicator of State of Interethnic Relations

Abstract

Igor Kuznetsov – Candidate of Science in Sociology, Leading Researcher, Department of Ethnic Sociology, Institute of Sociology, Russian Academy of Sciences. Address: bld. 5, 24/35, Krzhizhanovskij St., Moscow, 117218, Russian Federation. E-mail: ingvar31@yandex.ru

This article introduces tools for measuring the balance of interethnic attitudes among Russians, which allows the identification of the risk of ethnic tensions. The diagnostic indicators used to measure the relationship between in-group favouritism and out-group negativity. The balance between the two shows the state of inter-ethnic relationships, but also, most importantly, the identification of the potential problems which might require preventive action. The study was carried out on the basis of Wave 24 of the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS-HSE). The findings reveal a stable positive balance of interethnic attitudes, and thus a low risk of serious ethnic confrontations in Russia. However, the average country-wide measurements do not reflect the specificity of the situation in certain Russian regions. The findings also do not confirm the widely held view about the concentration of nationalistic attitudes exclusively among the youth. Neither do they completely confirm another common view that xenophobia prevails among the less educated. Different groups characterized by a similar balance of interethnic attitudes are also consistent in their reactions towards the current situation with interethnic relationships: i.e. the group with excessively negative attitudes towards other nationalities is on average characterized by more radical reactions. The main conclusion is that in Russian society there is a selective attitude to different ethnic groups, defined by the measure of their integration into the local community. This selectivity is characteristic not only for respondents with a distinctly nationalist attitudes, but also for those who are characterized by generally positive or neutral attitudes to other ethnic groups. Efforts to normalize the inter-ethnic situation in the local community should be directed not only at neutralizing the nationalistic attitudes of the population, but also at the integration of other ethnic groups to the behavioural standards accepted in that local society.