The differences in ethnic identity and patriotism characteristics between Russian and Kazakh students

Abstract

The article presents the results of an empirical research on patriotism and ethnic identity in Russian (N=187) and Kazakh students (N=156). The research was conducted with the aim of determining similarities and differences in patriotism and ethnic identity characteristics between these two groups of young people. The work uses a set of the following instruments: ?Ethnic Identity Types?, ?Who Am I??, ?The Scale of Expressive Assessment of Feelings Connected with Ethnic Identity?, ?The Scale of Expressive Assessment of Ethnic Identity Manifestation? and ?Patriogramme?. The results obtained show that Kazakh students have a higher level of patriotism in comparison with their Russian colleagues. Despite the similarity in ethnic identity manifestation between Russian and Kazakh students, Russian students manifest their ethnic identity more moderately than Kazakh students. Besides positive ethnic identity, Kazakh students reveal a tendency towards ethnic superiority: they are more committed to their national traditions, customs, culture and language and more intolerant of intrusion into their national and ethnic space than Russian students. The results obtained by the research can be used in the pedagogical work for stimulating positive aspects of patriotism and ethnic identity developing in young people living in the contemporary multicultural and polyethnic world.