Group Goal Attributions and Stereotypes in Five Former Soviet States

Abstract

A crossnational analysis of intergroup stereotypes in five former Soviet states focuses on the attribution of goals to outgroups. The literature is reviewed & the significance of "fifth column" attributions is discussed. It was hypothesized that fifth column attributions reinforce negative stereotypes of Russians but the effect only occurs in relation to outgroup, not ingroup, goals. The effect was expected to be stronger in countries with recent histories of violent conflict between groups. Data were collected in 1995 from surveys completed by a total of 1,200 Russian nationals & 1,200 indigenous nationals from randomly selected cities in Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Kazakhstan, & Georgia. Predictors of negative stereotypes highlighted income, occupation, education, age, gender, language competence, ethnicity, & civic identification. The results of simple slope analysis & a test of effects across countries using a general linear model showed the impact of fifth column attributions most strongly reinforced negative stereotypes of Russians in Georgia & Moldova, where recent military conflicts have occurred. The outcome of the second hypothesis was contradictory. The implications are discussed. 3 Tables, 2 Figures, 25 References. J. Lindroth