The mediating role of trust in the context of interethnic tension
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26577/JPsS20269615Abstract
In Kazakhstan’s multiethnic society, trust and ethnic tolerance are key conditions for the stability of interethnic relations. The growing role of ethnicity in times of crisis can lead both to an increase in ethnic identity and to risks of ethnocentrism, which makes the study of trust as a mediator particularly relevant.
The aim of the study was to identify the role of generalized trust in the relationship between different types of ethnonational attitudes – patriotic, nationalist, neutral, and negativist – and ethnic tolerance. It was assumed that trust reduces the direct impact of negative attitudes and enhances positive effects, preventing the escalation of interethnic tensions.
The scientific significance of the study lies in clarifying the psychological mechanisms underlying the formation of tolerance, while its practical significance lies in the possibility of using the findings to prevent interethnic conflicts and strengthen social cohesion.
The methodology included the General Trust Scale (adapted by E.A. Vlasenko), the questionnaire of ethnonational attitudes (O.E. Khukhlaev et al.), and the “Tolerance Index” (G.U. Soldatova et al., adapted by O.A. Gulevich et al.). The study involved 208 residents of Almaty. Data analysis was performed in IBM SPSS Statistics 27 using PROCESS by A. Hayes (Model 4, bootstrap with 5000 samples).
The results showed that trust acts as a full mediator for patriotic attitudes, a partial mediator for neutral and negativist attitudes, while nationalist attitudes were directly and positively associated with tolerance. This pattern can be explained by the Kazakhstani context, where nationalism is interpreted as civic identity and pride in culture, and negativism as distancing from ethnopoliticization.
The value of the study lies in identifying the universal role of trust as a resource of interethnic integration. The practical significance of the findings is their applicability in the development of strategies to strengthen interethnic harmony and social cohesion.
Keywords: trust, ethnic tolerance, ethnonational attitudes, mediation analysis, multiethnic society.
