The article considers the features of the perception of migrants by the Russian population of the Republic of Tatarstan, reflecting the degree of the intergroup social distance. One of the factors that shape it is the generalized image of a migrant prevailing among local Russians, which can be reduced to three conventional types: “foreign”, “different”, and “tolerable”. Each of them, in addition to socio-cultural connotations, is equivalent to the characteristics of the intergroup distance — close, medium, distant. The purpose of the study is the analysis of the social distance between the Russian population of Tatarstan and migrants, represented in generalized figurative nominations: “foreign”, “different” and “tolerable”, as well as the factors contributing to it. The research is based on the materials of the comprehensive study “Russian population of the Republic of Tatarstan”, which was carried out in 2022, as well as on the results of other studies on ethnic issues conducted in 2023–2024. It is worth noting that the problem of migrants has become remarkably topical over the past two years in the local multicultural community, which affects both the perception of migrants and attitudes towards the interaction with them. The image of a migrant as a “different” remains predominant among the Russian population of the republic, with a tendency to transform into the image of a “foreigner”, which indicates an increase in intergroup social distance.

Keywords: migrant, ethnic identity, cultural distance, ethnic stereotype, autochthonous group, heterogeneity.

 

Funding. The work was supported a grant provided in 2024 by the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan for the implementation of fundamental and applied scientific work in scientific and educational organizations, enterprises and organizations of the real sector of the economy of the Republic of Tatarstan.

 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Accepted: 26.02.2025

Article is published: 15.06.2025