The Role of Social Disidentification in Acculturation Preferences of Ethnic Majority and Minority Members in Kabardino-Balkar Republic

Abstract

The chapter is devoted to studying the role of social disidentification in acculturation preferences of ethnic minority and majority group members. Social disidentification refers to the active rejection and distancing oneself from a particular group. The study involved ethnic Russians living in Kabardino-Balkar Republic (KBR), North Caucasus, Russian Federation (N = 249), and the Kabardians and Balkars, who constitute the ethnic majority of Kabardino-Balkar Republic (N = 285). We measured ethnic, religious, republican, regional (North Caucasian), and national (belonging to Russian Federation) identities in both ethnic majority and minority group members as well as levels of national, regional, and republican disidentification. We used measures of acculturation strategies and expectations from the Mutual Intercultural Relations in Plural Societies project (http://www.victoria.ac.nz/cacr/research/mirips). Data processing was carried out using hierarchical regression analysis. The results showed that not only social identities affect the acculturation preferences but also social disidentification. We found that the republican disidentification of ethnic Russians in KBR was positively related to their separation and marginalization acculturation strategies and negatively related to their integration strategy. The regional disidentification of ethnic Russians in KBR was negatively related to their assimilation strategy and positively related to their marginalization strategy. The national (belonging to Russian Federation) disidentification of ethnic majority group members (Kabardians and Balkars) was positively related to their expectations of the segregation, assimilation, and exclusion of ethnic Russians and negatively related to their integration in the republic. In general, the study shows specific patterns of relationships between different types of social disidentification and acculturation preferences of majority and minority group members.