Subjective vitality and patterns of acculturation: four cases

Abstract

The article presents a comparative analysis of the subjective vitalities (SVs) of the minority groups of Latvia (Russian-speakers), Lithuania (Russian-speakers and Poles) and Mari El (Maris) in the Russian Federation, with a particular focus on the Mari case. The same extended version of the SV questionnaire was used in quantitative surveys in all four cases. The analysis revealed that Russians in Latvia and Maris have relatively high SVs, while the Lithuanian minorities had considerably lower SV scores. An investigation of the interaction of some of the variables within the samples detected different acculturation patterns between the Baltic minorities and the Maris. While in the Baltic settings, higher level of acculturation to the culture of the dominant group was related to lower perception of interethnic distrust towards the dominant group, in the Mari sample higher level of acculturation was related to higher interethnic distrust. The difference is due to the nature of interethnic relations in Mari El, and is influenced by some social factors that determine the distinction of Maris in the context of acculturation.

Keywords:

• subjective vitality
• acculturation patterns
• interethnic discordance
• language maintenance

Additional information

Funding

The research leading to these results received funding from the Estonian Research Council [grant number ERMOS75] ‘The Dynamics of Ethnolinguistic Vitality of Mari’.