Ideal and Real Multiculturalism in Post-Soviet Countries: Relationship with Mutual Acculturation and Psychological Well-Being among Ethnic Majorities and Minorities

The article presents a socio-psychological view of multiculturalism as a subjective reflection of the sociocultural context at the level of attitudes and perceptions. The concepts of ideal (expected) and real (perceived) multiculturalism are distinguished and studied in relationship with acculturation preferences and psychological well-being among members of ethnic minority and majority groups. The study was conducted on members of the Russian ethnic minority ( N = 746) and the ethnic majorities ( N = 754) of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Estonia. The total sample size was 1,500 respondents. The methodological tools included prescriptive and descriptive versions of The Multicultural Ideology Scale (MIS) , The Acculturation Strategies Scale for Ethnic Minorities , The Acculturation Expectations Scale for Ethnic Majorities , The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) , and The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) . The analysis revealed that the universal basis for life satisfaction among members of the Russian ethnic minority and the ethnic majorities in all the post-Soviet countries studied was real (perceived) multiculturalism but not abstract attitudes towards the adoption of multicultural ideology. Moreover, real multiculturalism, as perceived by the Russian minority, also serves as a universal basis for their choice of the integration strategy in intercultural interactions with members of the ethnic majority. But for the members of the ethnic majority, real multiculturalism in their perception manifests itself as a basis for the integration or assimilation of the Russians, depending on the context: thus, the Kazakhs and Kyrgyz tend toward the former, while the Estonians tend toward the latter. These and other findings are discussed within the sociocultural contexts of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Estonia, as well as within the core differences between ideal and real multiculturalism. The article concludes with an exploration of the practical value of the tested model for diagnosing intercultural relations in multicultural societies.