The Role of Interpersonal and Intergroup Attitudes in Interaction Strategies of Russian and Tajik Students in Tajikistan

The aim of this paper is to examine the role of interpersonal (liking, disliking and interpersonal trust) and intergroup attitudes (trust towards both Russians and Tajiks, social distance to both Russians and Tajiks) in interaction strategies (cooperation and competition) of students of Tajikistan. To this end, the authors conducted a correlation study in a Russian-language school in Tajikistan with both Russian and Tajik students. Data were collected using self-report measures of trust, social distance and interaction strategies, as well as sociometric indexes of liking and disliking. The sample consisted of Russians ( N = 51, males = 51%) and Tajiks ( N = 74, males = 60%) from 9th to 11th grades. The mean age of the sample was 16.20 ( SD = 0.86). For the Tajik students, as representatives of the ethnic majority, the intergroup attitudes were identified as important factors in choosing the interaction strategies. High perceived school status and lower cultural distance with Russians facilitated competition. For the Russian students, as representatives of an ethnic minority, the interpersonal attitudes turned out to be significant predictors of the interaction strategies. Thus, a high index of disliking and interpersonal trust, high perceived school status contributed to cooperation with classmates. The results of the study are discussed at the end of the article.