Abstract
Introduction. Studying the psychological phenomenon of national identity from the subjective perspective merits special attention. This paper: (a) introduces a new concept of personal historical experience and (b) provides justification for this concept within the framework of the subjective analysis. The paper main objective is to investigate the relationship between national identity and historical experience of Armenian youth depending on a socio-cultural situation – whether they belong to the titular Armenian ethnic group or to the Armenian diaspora in Russia.
Methods. The study of respondents’ national identity and personal historical experience included several stages and employed the following assessment techniques: (a) the International Social Survey Program modified by L. K. Grigor'yan; (b) the Ethnic Identity Types technique by G. U. Soldatova and S. V. Ryzhova; (c) the Scale for Rapid Evaluation of Ethnicity Feelings by N. M. Lebedeva; (d) the Scale for Rapid Evaluation of Ethnic Identity Manifestation by N. M. Lebedeva; and (e) the Questionnaire for Studying Historical Experience developed by the authors.
Results. The study failed to find significant difference in manifestations of ethnic and civil identity in the participating groups. However, the investigated components of national identity showed various interrelations. The level of nationalism among representatives of the titular Armenian ethnic group was negatively associated with the evaluation of ethnicity feelings, positive ethnic identification, ethnic isolationism, and the degree of manifestation of ethnic identity and positively associated with ethnic nihilism, ethnic indifference, and ethnic egoism. The findings of the study of personal historical experience suggest that, though both study groups have an overlap in ‘crystallization points’, they also differ substantially: the representatives of the titular ethnic group have more differentiated and multi-faceted notions about historical events and prominent historical figures of Armenia.
Discussion. The paper concludes with the discussion of characteristics of the relationships between personal historical experience and national identity in the titular ethnic group and the related diaspora. Personal historical experience facilitates the formation and preservation of national unity.
Highlights
- The subjective perspective can be a methodological foundation for studying personal historical experience as a psychological phenomenon.
- Historical experience substantially affects the characteristics of national identity. People’s pride for their nation in certain historical events is a psychological foundation for the formation and preservation of national unity.
- Different elements of national identity underlie the feeling of national pride in Armenian respondents from Russia and Armenia. These are ethnicity and pride for the ethnic group among the respondents from Armenia and pride for the ethnic group, but also the level of patriotism and positive ethno-identity among the respondents from Russia.
References
Znakov B. V., Ryabikina Z. I. Psikhologiya chelovecheskogo bytiya [Psychology of human existence]. Moscow, Smysl Publ., 2017. 416 p.
Ankersmit F. R. Vozvyshennyi istoricheskii opyt [Sublime historical experience]. Moscow, Evropa Publ., 2007. 612 p.
Apollonov I. A., Tuchina O. R. Historical experience: An attempt at conceptualization. Nauchnye trudy Kubanskogo gosudarstvennogo tekhnologicheskogo universiteta – Scientific works of KubSTU, 2014, no. 3, pp. 26–37 (in Russian).
Kon I. S. The problem of history in the history of philosophy. In: Metodologicheskie i istoriograficheskie voprosy istoricheskoi nauki. Vyp. 4. [Methodological and historiographical issues of historical science: Issue 4]. Tomsk, Tomsk University Publ., 1966, pp. 14–55.
Levada Yu. A. Historical consciousness and scientific method. In: Pamyati Yuriya Aleksandrovicha Levady [In memory of Yuri Alexandrovich Levada]. Moscow, Karpov E. V. Publ., 2011, pp. 298–352.
Leopa A. V. Istoricheskoe soznanie v usloviyakh sotsiokul'turnogo krizisa [Historical consciousness under the conditions of socio-cultural crisis]. Krasnoyarsk, Siberian Federal University Publ., 2011. 134 p.
Syrov V. N. What historical consciousness do we need: On the methodology of the approach and the practice of use. Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Istoriya – Tomsk State University Journal of History, 2013, no. 1 (21), pp. 183–190 (in Russian).
Schudson M. The present in the past versus the past in the present. Communication, 1989, V. 11, pp. 105–113.
Grishina N. V., Zhuravlev A. L. (ed.) Ekzistentsial'nyi opyt: empiricheskie opisaniya [Existential experience: Empirical descriptions]. Chelovek, sub”ekt, lichnost’ v sovremennoy psikhologii: Materialy Mezhdunarodnoy konferentsii, posvyashchennoy 80-letiyu A. V. Brushlinskogo [Person, subject, personality in modern psychology: Proc. the International Conference, dedicated to the 80th anniversary of A. V. Brushlinsky]. Moscow, Institute of Psychology, RAS Publ., 2013, V. 1, pp. 383–386.
Znakov B. V., Zhuravlev A. L. (ed.) Nepostizhimoe i tainstvennoe v ekzistentsial'nom opyte sub"ekta [Incomprehensible and mysterious in the existential experience of the subject]. Chelovek, sub”ekt, lichnost’ v sovremennoy psikhologii: Materialy Mezhdunarodnoy konferentsii, posvyashchennoy 80-letiyu A. V. Brushlinskogo [Person, subject, personality in modern psychology: Proc. the International Conference, dedicated to the 80th anniversary of A. V. Brushlinsky]. Moscow, Institute of Psychology, RAS Publ., 2013, V. 1, pp. 394–398.
Kasavina N. A. Existential experience: Experiencing the way and formation of the structure. Voprosy filosofii – Problems of Philosophy, 2013, no. 7, pp. 63–72 (in Russian).
Tuchina O. R. Historical experience in the context of personal existential experience. Nauchnye trudy Kubanskogo gosudarstvennogo tekhnologicheskogo universiteta – Scientific Works of KubSTU, 2016, no. 6, pp. 321–333 (in Russian).
Apollonov I. A., Tarba I. D. National identity and historical experience in the context of globalization. Nauchnye trudy Kubanskogo gosudarstvennogo tekhnologicheskogo universiteta – Scientific Works of KubSTU, 2015, no. 6, pp. 218–231 (in Russian).
Berberyan A. S., Berberyan H. S. Ethnopsychological aspects of the meaning-of-life and value orientations of Armenian and Russian students. Psychology in Russia: State of the Art, 2016, no. 9 (1), pp. 121–137. DOI: 10.11621/pir.2016.0109
Örkény A., Székelyi M. Identities of diasporas in boundary regions of Eastern Europe. Chelovek. Soobshchestvo. Upravlenie – Human. Community. Management, 2016, V. 17, no. 1, pp. 73–95 (in Russian).
Safran W. Diasporas in modern societies: Myths of homeland and return. Diaspora, 1991, V. 1, no. 1, pp. 83–99. DOI: 10.1353/dsp.1991.0004
Smith T. W., Kim S. National pride in comparative perspective: 1995/96 and 2003/04. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 2006, V. 18, Issue 1, pp. 127–136. DOI: 10.1093/ijpor/edk007
Abakumova I. V., Grishina A. V., Ermakov P. N. Organizatsiya psikhologicheskogo soprovozhdeniya detei bezhentsev i vynuzhdennykh pereselentsev iz regionov lokal'nykh voennykh konfliktov [Psychological support for children of refugees and internally displaced persons from the regions of local military conflicts]. Moscow, KREDO Publ., 2015. 48 p.
Dabag M., Platt K. Diaspora und das Kollektive Gedächtnis. Zur Konstruction kollectiver Identitäten in der Diaspora. In: M. Dabag und K. Platt (Hrsg.). Identität in der Fremde. Bochum, Norbert Brockmeyer, 1993, pp. 117–145.
Smith A. D. National identity. Reno, Nevada, University of Nevada Press, 1991. 226 p.
Shain Y. Democrats and secessionists: US diasporas as regime destabilizers. In: M. Weiner (ed.) International migration and security. Routledge, 1993, pp. 287–322.
Tölölyan Kh. Elites and institutions in the Armenian transnation. Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies, 2000, V. 9, no. 1, pp. 107–136. DOI: 10.1353/dsp.2000.0004
Tölölyan Kh. Diaspora studies: Past, present and promise, V. 55. International Migration Institute, University of Oxford, Working Papers Series, 2012. 14 p.
Hettlage R. Diaspora. Umrisse zu einer soziologischen Theorie. In: M. Dabag und K. Platt (Hrsg.). Identität in der Fremde. Bochum, Norbert Brockmeyer, 1993, pp. 75–105.
Brah A. Cartographies of diaspora: Contesting identities. London and New York, Routledge, 1996. 276 p.
Toshchenko Zh. T., Chaptykova T. I. Diaspora as an object of sociological research. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya – Sociological Studies, 1996, no. 12, pp. 33–42 (in Russian).
Grigoryan L. K. Patriotism and nationalism in Russia: Influence on economic independence. Kul'turno-istoricheskaya psikhologiya – Cultural-Historical Psychology, 2013, no. 3, pp. 22–31 (in Russian).
Berberyan A. S., Tuchina O. R. Studying self-understanding of ethno-cultural identity in the titular Armenian ethnic group and in the Armenian diaspora in Russia. Rossiiskii psikhologicheskii zhurnal – Russian Psychological Journal, 2016, V. 13, no. 3, pp. 178–196 (in Russian). DOI: 10.21702/rpj.2016.3.11
Tuchina O. R. National identity and personal historical experience: A psychological aspect (a case study of Russian youth in the Kuban region). Chelovek. Soobshchestvo. Upravlenie – Human. Community. Management, 2017, V. 18, no. 1, pp. 30–44 (in Russian).