Narva noorte väärtused ja identiteet

We share the view that people are guided in their everyday decisions by common sense, the trustworthiness of which has been confirmed by its usefulness in the past; its nature is thoroughly explained by the theory of social representations. A social representation is a system of values, ideas and practices with a twofold function: first, to enable individuals to orient themselves in the everyday world and to master it; and second, to provide codes for social exchange or naming and classifying unambiguously the various aspects of their world and their individual group history. This article focuses on the values and identity of young people in Narva. We compare the results of a survey of 284 Narva high school students and University of Tartu Narva College students with the values of their peers who participated in the Baltic Youth Values Survey, the European Social Survey, the European Values Survey, Estonian School-leavers Survey and the Eurobarometer Values and Identity Survey. We rely on qualitative interviews to interpret the value judgements elucidated in the Narva survey. To detect contextual interpretations of informants’ beliefs from 15 individual in-depth interviews and two focus group interviews we employed thematic content analysis. Among youngsters of Narva, a regional identity has developed and, like their Russian-speaking peers in previous surveys, most people consider themselves as Estonian Russians. Like the rest of Estonians, most youngsters studied see themselves as Northern Europeans, but they tend more than the aforementioned to identify as Eastern Europeans. Their identity is moulded by society, social media and close relationships with family and friends. The youngsters studied identify themselves primarily through gender, but family, age and life period, sexual orientation and acquired education level are also important referents. Both in the survey and in the interviews, identity insecurity resulting from living in two cultural spaces emerged, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine. Like their peers in Estonia, youngsters studied in Narva retrieve information about events in society mostly from social media. They prefer to follow Russian-language media, as their Estonian language skills are insufficient, and some news channels are paid. Values as manifestations of common sense are prescriptive, and they are not questioned, so long as they are considered useful guides. The values of youngsters in Narva reflect a weak sense of physical and material security and desires to strengthen them. Achievement is highly valued, and self-expression values are seen to be less important than for Estonian-speaking young people. Like the rest of Russophone Estonians, youngsters in Narva value security, achievement and power-oriented basic values more highly than their Estonian-speaking peers. The most desired goals for the youngsters studied in Narva include the pursuits of social recognition, independence and education. Among them are aspirations towards a successful career, independence from parents and good looks. The next important goals for them are material security, taking responsibility and graduating from university. Marriage and having children are valued much lower. Participation in civic activities is seen as the least important. The level of generalized trust in other people – an important precondition for participation in civil society activities – is significantly lower among youngsters in Narva than among their Estonian peers. Job security and a good salary are seen as the most important work values. However, opportunities to work in an enjoyable field, to use their abilities, to see the results of their work and to continuously improve themselves are also considered noteworthy desires. Opportunities for career advancement, job prestige, the ease of work and flexible working hours are seen as less desired goals. The prospect of unemployment is a major concern for the youngsters studied in Narva, more so than for other young people in Estonia. Many of them also fear that social injustice will worsen. On the other hand, they are less concerned than other Estonian youngsters about environmental pollution. Their fear of falling victim to physical violence is also greater than that of other young people in Estonia. The youngsters studied in Narva consider encouragement of the sense of responsibility in children as the most important educational value. The acquisition of determination, perseverance and independence is also highly valued. Cultivation of traditional values such as obedience and religiosity in children is considered the least important. Of the self-expression values, instilling tolerance towards others is the most highly valued. Narva youngsters tend to share the dominant view among young people in Estonia that the lives of today’s children will be more difficult than those of their own generation.