Trust as a moderator of attitude towards ethnic diversity and acculturation expectations of the host population

Abstract

We studied the role of generalized trust as a moderator of attitude towards ethnic diversity and acculturation expectations such as «integration» and «assimilation». In the process of theoretical analysis, two assumptions are made. (1) the higher the acceptance of ethnic diversity, the higher the orientation towards acculturation expectation «integration» and the lower the acculturation expectation «assimilation». (2) there is a difference in the relationship between attitudes towards ethnic diversity and acculturation expectations: in the case of negative attitudes towards ethnic diversity, people with higher trust will more prefer integration and less assimilation than people with lower trust. The sample of the study consisted of 198 Russian respondents (59 men and 139 women, mean age 24) who were born or lived more than 10 years in Moscow. Tools of research: methods of trust evaluation by T. Yamagishi [50]; questionnaire to assess the degree of acceptance of the identity of ethnic diversity [23]; an adapted method of assessing acculturation expectations by John. Berry [5]. The study confirmed the assumption that trust is a moderator of the relationship between attitudes towards ethnic diversity and acculturation expectations. The article discusses the meaning of the found moderation.