Positive and Negative Affects and Cultural Attitudes among Representatives of the Host Population and Second-Generation Migrants in Russia and Kazakhstan

Abstract

The experience of experiencing a new culture for first-generation migrants is usually quite an intense occurrence, one that has become the subject of numerous studies. However, the question of what happens later, at the level of the second and subsequent generations, is still under-investigated. The purpose of this study was to analyze the predictors of positive and negative affect of the second generation of migrants and representatives of the host (indigenous) population in Kazakhstan and Russia. The study involved 300 people selected on the basis of the principle of proportionality (quota selection). Survey methods and mathematical methods of data processing, including SEM (structural equation modeling), were used. The research model included comparative analysis of averages, regression analysis, and path analysis. The results testified in favor of the similarity of positive and negative affect indicators and their ratios in representatives of the host community and the second generation of migrants. Cultural attitudes of the host community representatives were characterized by higher certainty and rigidity than those of the representatives of the second generation of migrants. As a result of structural modeling, it was found that 20% of the positive affect dispersion in the representatives of the host community and 17% in the representatives of the second generation of migrants were conditioned by values, identity, and cultural attitudes. Positive affect in the representatives of the host community was associated with the values of self-overcoming, ethno-nihilism-based identity, and participation in cultural life of other peoples. Positive affect in representatives of the second generation of migrants was associated with the values of openness, attitude towards changing one’s ethnic identity, positive attitude towards cultural borrowings, and a tendency to observe the traditions of one’s ethnic group. Proposals have been formulated that contribute to reducing the cultural disunity of second-generation migrants and the host population.