Russian Internet Users ’ Perception of Ethnic Groups. Empirical Findings

1. Russian Internet Users’ Perception of Ethnic Groups. Empirical Findings Anna Gladkova, Faculty of Journalism, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia

2. Relevance of the Problem Immense ethnic and cultural heterogeneity of Russia (193 ethnic groups speaking more than 170 languages, according to the Russian census 2010); Increasing number of conflicts on ethnic grounds in the country (570 ethnic conflicts in Russia from September 2013/March 2014, according to the Centre for National Conflict Studies); Stereotypic perception of people belonging to other cultural, ethnic, linguistic communities, oftentimes transmitted through media channels; Miscommunication between representatives of different ethnic groups in both offline and online dimensions

3. Outgroup Trust • Trust across cultural identities, i.e. trust in people with whom one does not share and recognize a common group identity; • Generalized and particularized trust Source:GundelachB. 2014. ‘In Diversity We Trust: The Positive Effect of Ethnic Diversity on Outgroup Trust’ // Political Behavior, 36

4. Contact Theory and Cultural Discourse Studies • Contact theory: based upon the argument that exposure to people of different backgrounds leads to less prejudice; • Cultural Discourse Studies: the role of trust in fostering intercultural-intellectual dialogue and debate, all with a view to enhancing human cultural coexistence, harmony and prosperity Source:‘Social Cohesion and Immigration in Europe and North America: Mechanisms, Conditions, and Causality’ / Eds. R. Koopmans, B. Lancee, M. Schaeffer. Routledge, 2014; Shi-xu. Cultural Discourse Studies // International Encyclopedia of Language and Social Interaction / Eds. K. Tracy, C. Ilie, T. Sandel. Boston, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2015.

5. Outgroup Trust among‘Generalized Trusters’ in Russia Source: World Values Survey: Russia 2011

6. Broad Factors Influencing How Much People Trust Others • individual culture, traditions and religion; • how long an individual has lived in a community with a stable composition; • recent personal history of misfortune; • the perception of being part of a discriminated group; • several characteristics of the composition of one’s community Source:Alesina, A. & E. La Ferrara. 2002. Who Trusts Others? // Journal of Public Economics, 85(2).

7. Do Interest in / Knowledge about Ethnic Groups Contribute to Outgroup Trust as well?

8. Questions to Be Discussed • Are Russian Internet users interested in learning more about other ethnic groups of Russia (RQ1)?; • How much do Russian Internet users know about other ethnic groups of Russia (RQ2)?; • Does the degree of Russian Internet users’ interest and knowledge about other ethnic groups of Russia depend on the age of respondents and their region of living? (RQ3).

9. Internet in Russia • In the fall of 2013 the number of Internet users in Russia was 53,2 million people or 46% of the total population of Russia; • This number has grown by 14% since 2012; • The audience’s level of trust to the Internet has grown too: in 2012 64% of Russians stated that they trusted information found on the Internet (compared to 40% in 2011); • Internet is the main source of information for 59% of Russians, the third most popular one after television and press; • In the 2000s, the inequality of the Russian regions in terms of digital access has been going down, and the social, age and gender balance among Russian Internet users has been improving(Vartanova, 2013) Source: Internet v Rossii: dinamika proniknoveniya [Internet in Russia: Dynamics of Penetration], 2014; Vartanova, E. 2013. Constructing Russian Media System in the Context of Globalization // World of Media. Yearbook of Russian Media and Journalism Studies. Moscow: Mediamir

10. Method • An open three-week online survey on two websites of Mail.ru Group holding: News@Mail.ru (news website) and Afisha@Mail.ru (entertainment website); • The survey contained ‘yes/no’ questions, alternative and polyvariant questions; • The focus in this survey was deliberately shifted on mass media of ethnic groups; • Two main variables: age and region of living chosen for quantitative analysis; • N=1047

11. Survey: Main Thematic Blocks • General interest in other ethnic groups; • Specific interest in them (history, customs and traditions, language, religion, etc.); • Sources of information about ethnic groups (print media, TV, radio, friends, colleagues, Internet, etc.); • Acquaintance with ethnic mass media (general knowledge about them, satisfaction with the number of ethnic media outlets, etc.); • Attitude towards ethnic policy in Russia

12. General Interest • The majority of the respondents (651 persons (62.18%)) are generally interested in receiving the information about other ethnic communities on a regular basis, while 244 persons (23.3%) prefer to receive such information periodically; • The respondents 25-44 years old and 45-64 years old appeared to have the highest interest in learning more about ethnic groups, while representatives of younger and older groups are less interested in this topic

13. Specific Interest • Over half of respondents (571 persons (54.54%)) chose more than one aspect of other ethnic groups’ life, which they are interested in; • The most popular answer in all age and region subgroups turned out to be the history of other ethnic groups of Russia; the variants ‘customs and traditions’ and ‘values and moral codes’ appeared to be a little bit less popular.

14. Main Sources of Information • The respondents predominantly receive the information about other ethnic groups from the Internet – 450 persons (42.98%). The second popular answer was ‘TV and radio programs’ – 404 persons (38.59%); • Generally, the respondents under 45 years old choose the Internet as the main source of information, while the respondents over 45 year old prefer audiovisual mass media (radio and TV programs); • The older respondents more often receive information about other ethnic groups from print media: 33 persons (3.15%) at the age from 45 years old to 64 years old receive the information from this source, while the number of those, who read print outlets, in a younger age group – 25-44 years old is lower – 18 persons (1.72%) only

15. Acquaintance with Ethnic Mass Media (1) • 517 persons (49.38%) are not familiar with ethnic mass media (print, audiovisual, online) at all; • In Moscow and Saint-Petersburg the number of respondents familiar with mass media of other ethnic groups is lower than in the regions; • The majority of the respondents, regardless their age and region of living (590 persons (56.35%)), think that there is a lack of information about ethnic groups in Russian federal mass media

16. Attitude Towards Ethnic Policy in Russia • 448 persons (42.79%) agree that the number ethnic mass media should be increased, and the state should support such mass media (636 persons (60.74%)); • Older respondents (45-64 years old and over 65 years) tend to support ethnic mass media more often – 70% and 71% accordingly, than the representatives of younger age groups

17. Is Relatively High Level of Interest in / Knowledge about Ethnic Groups an Indicator of a High Level of Outgroup Trust?

18. Russian Internet Users’ Perception of Ethnic Groups. Empirical Findings Dr. Anna Gladkova, Faculty of Journalism, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia