Abstract
This study focuses on the role of two identity threats, perceived cultural discordance and perceived discrimination in the relationship between ethnic identification and national identification. Data on the identification patterns of Russian-speaking minority youth (N = 132) living in Finland indicated that their ethnic and national identities were negatively associated and appeared as oppositional when there was a perceived discordance between an individual’s wish to maintain the heritage culture and the majority group’s attitude towards immigrants’ maintenance of their ethnic heritage. When cultural discordance was not experienced, ethnic and national identification were independent of each other. In contrast, perceived discrimination had only a direct negative effect on minority youth’s national identification and did not moderate the association between ethnic and national identification. The effects of age and age at arrival to Finland were controlled for in the analysis. The results are discussed in relation to the notion of reciprocity in intergroup relations.
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