Suchergebnisse

This article examines the relationship between ethnic diversity and out-group trust in contemporary Russia, while distinguishing between long-standing ethnic diversity and recent immigration. In contrast to previous research that tested whether past regional experience with diversity is related to people's attitudes toward out-group members, we focus on long-standing ethnic diversity, defined as diversity resulting from the long-term coexistence of ethnic groups in a region, not recent immigration. We hypothesize that while the presence of out-groups may initially be threatening to the members of an ethnic group, long-standing diversity has positive consequences for intergroup relations. Using 2015 survey data combined with census and official registration data from Russian regions, we found that inhabitants of regions with higher levels of long-standing ethnic diversity tended to show higher out-group trust, while accounting for socio-economic characteristics of the regions and of individuals. In contrast, inhabitants of regions with higher recent immigration tended to have lower out-group trust, all else held constant. While these associations were weak, they speak in favor of a dynamic model of intergroup trust, which involves learning about others through mutual coexistence. We also acknowledge that the autochthonous status of ethnic minorities and existing institutional arrangements regarding different ethnic groups in Russia may additionally contribute to the development of trust.

In a 2014 paper, we demonstrated that the negative relationship between ethnic diversity and neighbourhood attachment was moderated by interethnic ties differently for migrants and natives living in ethnically diverse neighbourhoods. In this article, we respond to the Comment on our paper by Oded Stark, who proposes to interpret our findings within the framework of relative deprivation theory, and to explain the different results for migrants and natives by different preferences for diversity and resulting self-selection processes among the two groups. We argue that explaining the negative link between ethnic diversity and neighbourhood attachment by a distaste for relative deprivation is problematic given the intricacies of relationships between ethnic diversity, economic diversity, economic inequality and neighbourhood attachment. We note that employing the concept of relative deprivation in the analyses of ethnic diversity effects should acknowledge the role that interethnic ties play in the way natives and migrants define their reference groups. We also claim that preferences for diversity are unlikely to constitute a substantial basis for residential selection among migrants and natives, given the role of structural and socio-psychological factors in residential choices.

This article examines the relationship between ethnic diversity in the neighbourhood and attachment to it, while addressing the role of interethnic relations—both within and beyond the neighbourhood—and differentiating between native and migrant residents. The analyses rely on data from an international research project conducted in 2009/10 among residents of ethnically diverse areas in six European cities: Bilbao, Lisbon, Rotterdam, Thessalonica, Vienna and Warsaw. The obtained results confirm earlier findings as regards the general negative association between ethnic diversity and neighbourhood attachment, but more importantly, reveal that having interethnic relations moderates this relationship differently for natives and migrants. Ethnic diversity does not erode neighbourhood attachment for natives who have ties with people of other ethnicities, or for migrants with mono-ethnic ties. This pattern is explained by the different meaning that a diverse setting has for natives and for migrants. Possible implications of these findings are also discussed.