Ethnic identity: peculiarities of interaction between family values and multi-ethnic student environment through the example of Dagestani students

This study focused on the issue of ethnic identity of students as a process of interaction between the family upbringing values and multi-ethnic university environment on the example of Daghestani students of Moscow universities. The central study objective was to determine the effect of family values on the formation of national identity in students, as well as to identify whether there are any statistical differences in these terms between males and females. A total study sample included 214 Daghestani students from 15 Moscow universities distributed into two groups: experimental one (composed of Dagestanis) and control (multi-ethnic group). The research participants were asked to specify their national identity and assess the use of their mother tongue as an identifier. The null hypothesis of this study suggested that there are no significant differences between the assessments of Dagestani males and females towards traditional family values and no significant differences in ethnic identification between students of the experimental and control groups. The groups were compared based on the results of Pearson’s chi-squared test and Pearson’s correlation coefficient calculation. As a consequence, the null hypothesis was confirmed only for the students of the 4th and 5th study years. The practical value of the collected findings resides in their possibility to be used to address psychological problems in multi-ethnic student groups and create optimal conditions for personal development and ethnic identification of students.

Saida Gasanova