Perceived Cultural Distance and Psychological Well-Being of Russians in Different Contexts of Post-Soviet Countries: The Mediating Role of Acculturation Strategies

The paper is devoted to the search for universal and culture-specific relationships between perceived cultural distance, acculturation strategies and psychological well-being of Russians in three post-Soviet countries: Kazakhstan, Armenia and Estonia. In the study, the authors relied on perceived cultural distance theory and acculturation theory. The sample included 660 Russians (179 - in Kazakhstan, 358 - in Estonia, 123 - in Armenia). The study used structural equation modeling, multigroup analysis, and mediation analysis. The results have shown that perceived cultural distance is a negative predictor of the psychological well-being of Russians in post-Soviet countries where they are quite numerous (Kazakhstan and Estonia). Moreover, high perceived cultural distance reduces the orientation towards integration in all the countries studied, increases the attitude towards separation in favorable contexts (Kazakhstan and Armenia) and decreases it in unfavorable contexts (Estonia). As the mediation analysis has shown, in countries where the number of Russians is fairly high, perceived cultural closeness is an important factor: it increases the importance of the integration strategy (in Estonia) and reduces the importance of the separation strategy (in Kazakhstan), thereby contributing to the psychological well-being of Russians. In Armenia, where there are very few Russians, they have developed an adaptation mechanism both in situations of high and low perceived cultural distance: in the first case, high cultural distance increases separation attitudes, which lead to psychological well-being; in the second case, the main role is played by the integration strategy, which mediates the positive relationship between perceived cultural closeness and psychological well-being of the local Russians. This study aims to show that the actualization of information about cultural closeness, common history, traditions, etc. in the discourse of countries can be an incentive to reduce the perceived cultural distance among representatives of ethnic minorities and contribute to their psychological well-being.