Values of Ethnic Russian Minority Members in North Caucasus Republics of the Russian Federation: An Inter- and Intragenerational Comparison

Abstract

This paper examines inter- and intragenerational value similarities and differences among two generations of ethnic Russian minority members living in two North Caucasus republics—North Ossetia-Аlania (RNO-A) and Kabardino-Balkaria (KBR) of the Russian Federation. It also compares them with values of two generations of Russians in the Central Federal District of Russia (CFD) and with values of indigenous people in these republics. The sample included 563 parent-adolescent dyads, 720 ethnic Russians, and 406 members of the dominant ethnic groups in the North Caucasus republics overall. Data were obtained using Schwartz’s Revised Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ-R). Scores for Schwartz’s four higher-order value types (Openness to Change, Self-Enhancement, Conservation, Self-Transcendence) were calculated. Multivariate analysis of variance revealed intergenerational gaps only for Openness to Change and Conservation values among the ethnic Russian minority in the North Caucasus republics, whereas among Russians in the CFD, intergenerational gaps emerged for all higher-order values. Furthermore, we found that the pattern of intergenerational similarities and differences in the Russian minority of RNO and KBR was closer to the patterns of the dominant ethnic groups of these republics than to the pattern exhibited by Russians in the CFD. The incurred intergenerational value differences are interpreted as reflecting differences in sociocultural contexts of the two generations at their times of upbringing, in line with sociological modernization theory.