The Typology of Citizens of a Russian Megapolis According to their Attitudes to Migrants of Different Ethnicities

Abstract

Irina Britvina – Doctor of Science in Sociology, Professor at the Department of Integrated Marketing Communications and Branding. Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin. Address: 19, Mira St., Yekaterinburg, 620002, Russian Federation. E-mail: irina.britvina@urfu.ru

Elena Mogilchak – Candidate of Sciences in Philosophy, Associate Professor. Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin. Address: 19, Mira St., Yekaterinburg, 620002, Russian Federation. E-mail: e.l.mogilchak@urfu.ru

Citation: Britvina I., Mogilchak T. (2018) The Typology of Citizens of a Russian Megapolis According to their Attitudes to Migrants of Different Ethnicities. Mir Rossii, vol. 27, no 1, pp. 114–134 (in Russian). DOI: 10.17323/1811-038X-2018-27-1-114-134

This article examines the attitudes towards migrants of different ethnicities in a heterogenous host community as a factor of acculturation. The analysis is based on a survey of residents of Yekaterinburg aged 15 and above. The authors distinguish and describe four types of citizens based on their attitudes towards migrant workers from Central Asia – “uncompromising”, “active well-wishers”, “contradictory” and “indifferent”. The typology was obtained from a cluster analysis of 12 items of the questionnaire. Each type is described in terms of specific manifestations of attitudes towards migrants, e.g. the admissibility of marital relationships with migrants, friendship and so forth. Two of the clusters represent highly polar groups, different in the degree of their hostility towards certain ethnic groups. The results of the survey also reveal that attitudes correlate highly with the level of interactions with migrants, awareness of the threats they pose to the economic interests of the locals, and ethnic indifference. In conclusion, the authors discuss specific causes of the formation of attitudes towards migrants in the identified clusters.