摘要：The project Mutual Intercultural Research in Plural Societies was designed to examinethree hypotheses of intercultural relations: the multiculturalism hypothesis, the integrationhypothesis, and the contact hypothesis. These hypotheses were derived from theCanadian multiculturalism policy (Berry, 1984), and their validity has been assessedin a number of countries. Our goal was to evaluate these hypotheses in Russia (Moscow)and Latvia (Riga). We used sociopsychological surveys of two dominant groups(Russian Muscovites and Latvians in Riga) and two nondominant groups (migrantsfrom the Caucasus in Moscow and the Russian minority in Riga) employing structuralequation modeling. A sense of perceived security promoted tolerance toward othercultural groups in three of the samples. Perceived security was related significantly tomulticultural ideology in Riga, but there was no significant relationship to multiculturalideology in the Moscow samples. A preference for the integration strategy amongthe migrants in Moscow as well as among the Russians in Latvia promoted their bettersociocultural adaptation and had a significant impact on the life satisfaction of theMuscovites but had no impact on the Latvian sample in Riga. Our results providedsome support for the effect of intercultural contact on the acceptance of others in threeof the groups: the migrants in Moscow, the Russian minority in Riga, and the dominantgroup in Moscow. However, among the Russians in Riga, the relationship betweencontacts and perceived security was negative. The multiculturalism hypothesis wasconfirmed with the dominant group in Riga and was partly confirmed with both thedominant and the nondominant groups in Moscow and with the Russian minority inRiga. The contact hypothesis received partial support with both groups in Moscow andthe Russian minority in Riga but was not confirmed with the Latvians in Riga. Therewas partial support for the role of the integration strategy in promoting socioculturaladaptation and well-being among the migrants in Moscow and the Muscovites. Thesefindings require additional analysis of the sociopolitical and historical context in Latviain order to understand the psychological outcomes of acculturation among the Russianminority there.
