The Effect of a Majority Group's Orientation Toward Acculturation on a Minority Group's Feelings of National Identity.

In the present study, 136 ethnic Russian students in Estonia read one of two fictitious scenarios about the results of a national survey. The first scenario led participants to believe that members of the majority group (Estonians) prefer minority groups to assimilate to the dominant, majority culture. The second scenario led participants to believe that the majority group prefers a multicultural orientation that values all cultural groups. After reading one of the two scenarios, participants completed measures of national identity and ethnic identity. Participants' responses revealed that the effect of the majority's acculturation orientation on feelings of national identity was moderated by the minority group's self‐identification and the strength of their ethnic identity. Specifically, the different acculturation scenarios produced different intensities of national identity, but only for persons who identified as monocultural or reported a high degree of ethnic identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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