Translated material
Culling
Russians are not known for their political correctness when choosing spouses
Sociologists have found that when it comes to family ties, Russians are not nearly as tolerant of representatives of other nationalities. As the head of the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM) Valery Fedorov told Vremya Novostei yesterday, one of the latest surveys on interethnic marriages, in fact, was intended to find out the true attitude of citizens of our country towards representatives of another nationality. This kind of hidden test of political correctness showed that the heirs of Soviet internationalism “have no immunity from nationalism.”The fact is that the majority of Russians (70%) approve of marriages exclusively with representatives of their own nationality. And they have a fairly neutral, if not completely negative, attitude towards marriage unions with representatives of other nationalities. More or less calmly, compatriots perceive entering into family ties with Ukrainians and Belarusians.
It is noteworthy that eight years ago, a quarter of respondents viewed unions with representatives of these Slavic peoples “with disapproval.” Today, the number of negative people has dropped to 14%, which, according to Valery Fedorov, is explained by changes in the national composition of guest workers. “If ten years ago it was mainly Ukrainians and Belarusians who went to Russia to work, and they were treated as people from foreign countries, now they have been supplanted by representatives of Central Asia, and we see the corresponding attitude of Russians towards Tajiks, Uzbeks and Kyrgyz,” - - Mr. Fedorov noted. The extremely negative attitude of Russians towards marriages with Asians differs only slightly from the attitude towards family ties with Georgians, Armenians and Azerbaijanis. More than 60% of respondents disapproved of their close relative marrying from Central Asia and 54% were against kinship with Georgians, Armenians and Azerbaijanis. In addition, 63% of Russians do not accept family ties with Arabs. It is noteworthy that Russian citizens who do not have Chechen roots have a particularly negative attitude towards the prospects of their relatives marrying representatives of this Vainakh people. 65% said that they would not approve of the marriage of children, grandchildren, and nephews with Chechens.
Russians are fairly neutral only about entering into family relations with Europeans (44% would not strongly object to Germans, French or English as relatives), Americans (41%), Latvians, Lithuanians and Estonians (43%). Only 17% of respondents approve of marriages with representatives of the European community. In a similar survey in 2002, it should be noted that there were significantly more people wanting to intermarry with Europeans - 27%.
Judging by the data of a survey conducted in 140 settlements in 42 regions, territories and republics of the country, Jews occupy a kind of intermediate place in the national likes and dislikes of Russians. Moreover, the attitude towards kinship with representatives of this nationality did not change significantly from 2002 to 2010. 46% do not approve of marriages with Jews, but more than a third of respondents are quite ready to turn a blind eye to such kinship.
Sociologists note that traditionally married Russians perceive interethnic marriages more negatively, while respondents who are not married themselves show greater tolerance towards their partners. But in any case, the results of this study differ from other surveys in which respondents were asked to demonstrate their attitude to the problem of interethnic relations.
According to Valery Fedorov, in most VTsIOM surveys concerning interethnic issues, Russians in general are quite tolerant and restrained in their assessments. “We had some doubts about this. Maybe people reproduce what they consider decent, but think completely differently,” explained Mr. Fedorov. In his opinion, it is hidden attitudes that “detonate” in acute conflict situations. Moreover, unlike representatives of the Western community, “we have not been vaccinated with political correctness.” Compared to Europeans and Americans, Russians are not particularly tolerant. “We call blacks blacks, and disabled people disabled,” noted Valery Fedorov. But nevertheless, “there are norms that most Russians try to adhere to.” And sociologists, in fact, were interested in what was behind them.