On analyzing the results of empirical research into the life-purpose orientations of adults of various ethnic identities and religious affiliations

Abakumova Irina V.; Ermakov Pavel N.; Kolesina Karina Y.

Psychology in Russia: State of the Art Volume 9, Issue 1, 2016

Lomonosov Moscow State University

MULTICULTURALISM IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SPACES

ün analyzing the results of empirical research into the life-purpose orientations of adults of various ethnic identities and religious affiliations

Irina V. Abakumovaa, Pavel N. Ermakov3*, Karina Y. Kolesinab

aAcademy of Psychology and Pedagogics, South Federal University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia

b Institute of Philology, Journalism and Intercultural Communication, South Federal University,

Rostov-on-Don, Russia

* Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]

The research in question investigates life-purpose orientations and values of various groups of a population living in a multicultural area with a variety of ethnic and religious communities. Members may have different attitudes to one and the same set of values due to their specific cultural traditions and religious guidelines. A common set of life-purpose orientations and values as well as distinctly different ones were identified in the research. It employed an ethno-psychological questionnaire designed specifically to that end and psychometric instruments aimed at identifying the values of the adults of various ethnic identities and religious affiliations. Residents of a multi-cultural area in the south of Russia who belong to different denominations were surveyed. It is stated that there is a substantial difference between the sets of values held by Baptists and Buddhists and representatives of other ethnic and religious groups (Muslims and Christians) participating in this investigation. The survey found that all of the Baptist and Buddhist respondents were described by a high-to-medium level of civil identity. Indifference to ethnic standards and a failure to accept the culture of their own people were found among all of the respondents; it was displayed by a small proportion of Orthodox Christians, whereas all of the Buddhists under investigation had a positive ethnic identity, and a certain proportion of Muslims and Catholics as well as a tiny proportion of Orthodox believers reported that they placed a priority for ethnic rights over human rights. Among all of the denominations surveyed, the majority of respondents surveyed have a positive attitude towards both their own nation and other nations.

Keywords: axiological sphere of the person, life-purpose orientations, values, ethnic identity and religious affiliation, civil identity, strategy

ISSN 2074-6857 (Print) / ISSN 2307-2202 (Online) © Lomonosov Moscow State University, 2016 © Russian Psychological Society, 2016 doi: 10.11621/pir.2016.0111 http://psychologyinrussia.com

Introduction

The contemporary science of psychology and pedagogy gives careful attention to the study of particular features of the sets of values cherished by various age-, social- and gender groups (Kruteleva & Abakumova, 2013; Kruteleva, Abakumova, & Karaa, 2013). This interest is accounted for by the psychological peculiarity of values as a factor that has an actual effect on the social and psychological climate resulting from some personal interactions. It is possible to assume that "semantic consonance" (viewed as a certain coincidence of semantic preferences) occurs in communities that are fairly homogeneous in terms of their most generalized life-purpose orientations (the way you perceive yourself, your family and people around you, your attitude to professional activity and nationwide values, etc.). The consonance in question harmonizes relations between people who happen to be very different in terms of many other aspects. Conversely, the situation in which people happen to stick to opposing values results in the lack of integration, alienation, and, not infrequently, active behavioral animosity of those who find themselves in the situation of "semantic dissonance" (Abakumova, 2008; Abakumova, Kagermazova, & Savin, 2013). A number of researchers have found that people's personal characteristics depend on their ethnic identities and religious affiliations. Researchers discovered in southern areas of the Russian Federation that the religious affiliations of people greatly influence their attitudes toward moral values, features of legal awareness and priorities in the realization of life purposes and self-realization (Grimsoltanova, 2013; Kashirina, 2005).

The scientific problem in question is especially vital for modern Russia as a multinational state because the issue of defining the values of a particular culture or deciding on your own ethnicity or religious denomination is subject to both theoretical analysis and practical application, giving an opportunity to identify and sometimes prevent interpersonal conflicts brought about by the discrepancy in the priority given to some values over others (Abakumova, Kagermazova, & Savin, 2013). According to the All-Russian census of 2010, there are currently over 200 ethnic groups in the Russian federation, each with its own particular cultural, ethnic and denominational features. Which of these have the strongest effects on interactions within a multi-cultural society? This is a vexing question for many scientists who do research in the humanities. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that active migration processes have been recently taking place in a number of regions of Russia; these transform the existing traditional relationships between various communities and incur new risks for intercultural interaction. Both actual and potential conflicts encourage scientists to perform empirical diagnostics to bring to light the differences in value scales within ethnic and denominational groups that find themselves in new conditions of life (Abakumova, Grimsoltanova, & Miroshnichenko, 2014; Grimsoltanova, 2013; Rostova, 2012).

Within the framework of this research, we aimed at studying the specific features of life-purpose values of representatives of various ethnic identities and religious affiliations — Muslims (residing in Chechen Republic, Kabardino-Balkarian Republic), Christians (Orthodox, Catholics), Baptists (residing in Rostov region, Krasnodar Territory and Stavropol Territory) and Buddhists (residing in Republic of Kalmykia and Astrakhan Region). The total number of respondents is a group of 625 adults (aged 35-55).

The hypotheses to be examined are as follows: ethnic identities and religious affiliations may condition the individual's world outlook and may prove to be the factor shaping the behavioral mechanisms of interethnic interaction in a multicultural and multi-confessional area; herewith, value scales of different groups of population of various ethnic identity and religious affiliation may affect the psychosocial climate in certain regions of the country.

Method

Two types of instruments were employed to confirm the hypotheses put forward. A survey was conducted, in which answers to the author-devised questionnaire were analyzed by means of content analysis, and psychometric testing was carried out, in which the Rokeach Value Survey (RVS) and "Proverbs" of S.M. Petrova were used. Empirical research was conducted in two stages. At stage 1, the researchers used an established questionnaire containing 13 basic ethnopsychological questions. In terms of its organization, the questionnaire contained a set of general demographic information items (gender, age, full name (should the respondent choose to indicate it); city of residence, occupation, field of work); and a set of questions requesting straightforward answers about priorities in values scales.

At stage 2, the same group of respondents was surveyed with the use of two psychometric instruments.

Results

The findings are as follows: "Life for oneself "is the first priority (34.00%), and the following interpretations are given by way of examples: primary life values are health, cheerfulness, opportunity to achieve self-fulfillment, to become great, to achieve some objective and self-improvement.

"Life for others" is the second priority (33.00%): examples are procreation, assistance to fellow creatures, family and children.

"Process of life" is the third priority (19.00%): living is a value in itself._

"Philosophic and religious approach" is the fourth priority (9.00%): examples are decency and conscientiousness in everything, development of a human according to the laws of nature, productive life and honesty.

Finally, a lack of values was stated by 2.00% of the respondents.

The survey of basic life values among the respondents of various religious affiliations are presented in Table 2.

Of interest were the answers to the question of the person who is the one to mostly influence the formation of values. The results are as follows (Table 3).

Considerable distinctions were discovered in the answers to the question of whether values depend on the person's nationality (Table 4).

The data presented in Table 4 show that it is mainly atheists and Muslims who believe in the national origin of value scales. There are much lower percentages of those who hold the same view among people of other denominations, whereas Baptists maintain that "Thorough understanding of true life values does not depend on either the person's nationality or their gender".

Table 1. Findings of ethnopsychological empirical research of the respondents (N=625)

What are your primary life values?

№ typical associations Example of interpretation % of respondents who chose the stated answer

1 1.1 Biological phenomenon Life for oneself Health 34.00% 4.00 %

1.2 Activity Self-improvement 7.00%

1.3 Emotions Cheerfulness 14.00%

1.4 Opportunity Opportunity to achieve self-fulfillment, to become great, to achieve some objectives 9.00 %

2 Life for others 33.00%

2.1 Sacrifice Assistance to fellow creatures 11.00%

Procreation Producing offspring 10.00%

2.2 Your own flesh and blood Your family 12.00 %

3 Process of life 19.00%

3.1 Process Process of living 9.00%

3.2 Social role Change of roles: daughter, wife, mother, grandmother 6.00 %

Emotional experience Love, happiness 4.00%

4 Philosophic and religious approach 12.00%

4.1 Religious interpretation God 4.00%

4.2 Philosophic interpretation Development of a human according to the laws of nature 6.00%

4.3 Aspiration for ideals Decency and conscientiousness in everything 2.00%

5. The respondent fails to identify his or her primary life values 2.00%

The question of whether values depend on a certain religious affiliation was answered in the following way (Table 5).

Buddhists, atheists and Orthodox Christians believe that person's values are independent of religious creed, whereas Baptists are unanimous in the opposite opinion. Muslims and Catholics, on the other hand, hold the view that it is possible and most probable that your religious affiliation is crucial for your choice of life values.

At stage 2, the Rokeach Value Survey interpretation was used to interpret and define the essential aspect of the person's orientation; the basis for the person's attitude towards the world around him or her, other people, and oneself; the basis of the world outlook and the core of activity motivation; and the concept of life. One

Table 2. The survey of basic life values among the respondents of various religious affiliations

Types of answers

% of respondents who chose the stated answer

For Orthodox Christians