Features Of The Ethnic Identity Of Specialists With Professional Deformations

Abstract

The components of professional deformations of specialists are determined: a high level of psychoemotional (emotional) exhaustion; higher than the average level of depersonalization (personal estrangement), professional deformations in general, reduction of personal achievements and professional motivation. The features of the ethnic identity of specialists with professional deformations are revealed: the average level of the sociocultural and regional identity, racism, ethnonihilism, normal positive ethnic identity, ethno-egoism, ethno-isolationism; below the average level of ethnofanatism. A comparative analysis of the ethnic identity of professionals with professional deformations (average level of normal positive ethnic identity, racism, regional and sociocultural identity, emotional-value component of ethnic identity, ethno-isolationism, ethno-nihilism, ethno-egoism) and without pronounced professional deformations (below average level of racism, ethnic indifference, ethno-isolationism, ethnonihilism, ethno-egoism; above average level of normal positive ethnic identity, regional and sociocultural identity). Correlations between the severity levels of types of ethnic identity and the components of professional deformations were established: a noticeable relationship between the high level of psychoemotional (emotional) exhaustion and the average level of the sociocultural and regional identity, racism, ethno-nihilism, ethnic indifference, normal positive ethnic identity, ethno-egoism, ethno-isolationism; moderate connection between below the average level of ethnofanatism and above the average level of depersonalization (personal estrangement), reduction of personal achievements and professional motivation, professional deformations in general.

Keywords: Deformationethnicityethnofanatismexhaustionidentityprofession

Introduction

In the modern world in multinational countries there is an acute question of the formation and development of identity in general, how the properties of the psyche represent their own belonging to various communities (national, political, professional, racial, religious, social, economic, linguistic and others) and ethnic identity in particular, belonging to a national-ethnic community.

In socio-psychological studies, questions are raised: changes in ethnic identity in ontogenesis (Kiang et al., 2010; Ortiz & Santos, 2010); the study of ethnic identity from ethnology to social psychology (Stefanenko, 2009); conceptualization and measurement of ethnic identity (Phinney & Ong, 2007); descriptions of the socio-cultural and contextual aspects of racial and ethnic differences (Chao & Otsuki-Clutter, 2011; Umaña-Taylor et al., 2014; Williams et al., 2012); comparisons of phenomena such as national identity, socialization in multinational groups, ethnic diversity, psychological well-being (Fuller-Rowell et al., 2013; Masella, 2013; Rivas-Drake et al., 2008; Skrobanek, 2009); preservation of ethnocultural identity (Kirko, 2015).

Problem Statement

One of the types of identity is professional identity as an idea of one's own place in the professional world, of the conformity of one's individual psychological characteristics to the requirements of a certain professional niche, which contributes to the disclosure of the axiological and acmeological potentials of a person and its self-actualization.

Professional activity itself leaves its mark on specialists, and this influence can be both positive (the possibility of acmeological growth, self-expression, self-improvement) and negative (the occurrence of professional deformations that adversely affect the personality of specialists, their professional activities, and other areas of life).

Research Questions

Professional deformations as a multidimensional construct lead to emotional and / or physical exhaustion, depersonalization as a component of professional deformations, manifested in a violation of relations in the “specialist-client” system, personal estrangement, reduction of personal achievements and professional motivation, which, in turn, reduces effectiveness professional performance, indicators of psychological health and subjective well-being of specialists (Mironova et al., 2018; Polyakova et al., 2018), and It is also a prerequisite for the emergence of conflicting production situations, which is especially acute in multinational work collectives with a decrease in ethnic identity and tolerance (Gong, 2007); Ethnocultural competence as a component of communication competence (Stefanenko & Kupavskaya, 2010).

Purpose of the Study

It was necessary to identify the features of the ethnic identity of specialists with professional deformations with the aim of further leveling the symptoms of professional deformations and the formation of psychologically favorable interpersonal relationships in multinational work collectives.

Research Methods

Research organization.

Identification of the features of professional deformations and their components was carried out on a sample of 3218 specialists.

According to the results, two groups were formed: the first group – 416 workers with professional deformations and their components; the second group – 416 employees without pronounced symptoms of occupational deformities.

Studying the characteristics of ethnic identity made it possible to establish relationships between types of ethnic identity and components of professional deformations, as well as conduct a comparative analysis of the studied groups of specialists.

Methods for identifying features of professional deformations:

1) burnout questionnaire “Maslach burnout inventory” (MBI) by Maslach & Jackson, adapted by Vodopyanova, in a modification of the interpretation of the results of Polyakova et al. (2018) in order to determine the levels of emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (D), reduction of personal achievements (RPA) and professional deformations in general (∑PD);

2) modification “Maslach burnout inventory” (MBI mod), performed by teachers of the department of psychology of professional activity of St. Petersburg State University, in a modification of the interpretation of the results of Polyakova (Polyakova et al., 2018), in order to determine the levels of emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (D), reduction of personal achievements (RPA) and professional deformations in general (∑PD);

3) questionnaire on the definition of mental burnout (QDMB) by Farber, in adaptation of Rukavishnikova, in a modification of the interpretation of the results of Polyakova et al. (2018), in order to determine the levels of psychoemotional exhaustion (PEE), personal distance (PD), reduction of professional motivation (RPM) and professional deformations in general (∑PD).

Diagnostics of the study of ethnic identity:

1) methodology for the study of the emotional-value component of ethnic identity (MSEVCEI) in the authorship of Stefanenko in order to determine the level of the emotional-value component of ethnic identity (EVCEI), in modifying the interpretation of the results of Polyakova (Table 01 );

2) methodology for determining sociocultural identity (MDSI), authored by Krupenko and Frolova, in order to determine the levels of sociocultural identity (SCI), regional identity (RI) and racism (R), in modifying the interpretation of the results of Polyakova (Table 01 ), taking into account the conversion of scores on the scales of "sociocultural identity" and "regional identity": 14, 23, 32, 41;

3) questionnaire of types of ethnic identity (QTEI), authored by Soldatova and Ryzhova, in order to determine ethnic identity, its transformation in conditions of interethnic tension, as well as types of ethnic identity (ethnonihilism (EN), ethnic indifference (EID), normal positive ethnic identity (NPEI), ethno-egoism (EE), ethno-isolationism (EI), ethnofanatism (EF), in a modification of the interpretation of the results of Polyakova (Table 01 ).

Table 1 -
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Mathematical data processing:

Was carried out using the correlation criterion by Pearson and the Chaddock table to determine the cramped (force) of the correlation (less than 0.3 – weak; from 0.3 to 0.5 – moderate; from 0.5 to 0.7 – noticeable; from 0.7 to 0.9 – high; more 0.9 – very high).

Findings

Most specialists with professional deformities revealed the following features:

1) a high level of psychoemotional (54.6 %) and emotional exhaustion (48.7 %) (Table 02 );

2) higher than the average level of depersonalization (58.4 %), reduction of personal achievements (54.35 %), professional deformations in general (52 %), personal distance (63.7 %), reduction of professional motivation (55.1 %) (Table 02 ).

For most specialists without pronounced professional deformations:

A ll components have a low level: emotional exhaustion (64.05 %), depersonalization (64.15 %), reduction of personal achievements (71.7 %), professional deformations in general (65.2 %), psychoemotional exhaustion (68.8 %), personal estrangement (59.4 %), reduction of professional motivation (58.9) (Table 02 ).

Table 2 -
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Most specialists with professional deformities revealed the following features of ethnic identity:

1) middle level: the emotional-valuable component of ethnic identity (they do not see enough reason for patriotic pride, they are calmly treated with state symbols, are more indifferent to folklore, have little interest in ethnic issues) (Table 03 ); sociocultural identity (they know the history of their people quite well, are focused on national stereotypes only in specific situations, rarely get involved in conversations about racial relations, practically don’t feel an undesirable attitude towards themselves because of their nationality, only in stressful situations they try to find “their” in the quality of psychological support, they are critical of some traditions of representatives of other nationalities, they are indifferent to the actions of people of other nationalities, if this is not they are personally addressed, some national features that interfere with their life are noted, mainly only holidays of their own ethnic group are recognized, they try not to associate negative statements in their own address with insult to their nationality, have little interest in national issues, in stressful situations they try to hide their national features ) (Table 03 ); regional identity (they calmly relate to the nature of their native land, associate their future not only with their land, are not tied to their birthplace, are interested in places of different states, rarely try to figure out a fellow countryman in the manner of speaking, if necessary, they could move to live in another region) (Table 03 ); racism (they try to react normally to representatives of other nationalities, rarely feel psychological discomfort among people of other nationalities, try to ignore the features of nationality in other people, when choosing a circle of friends they seek to support themselves with representatives of their nationality); ethnonihilism (they try not to notice the superiority of people of another nationality, rarely feel shame for representatives of their ethnic group, tend to get along with people of their own and other nationalities, sometimes they experience psychological discomfort associated with their ethnicity) (Table 03 ); ethnic indifference (they only in stressful situations believe that nationality matters in communication, try to accept all national cultures, are not indifferent to their nationality, pay attention to ethnic problems, do not distinguish some people as the best) (Table 03 ); normal positive ethnic identity (they prefer the lifestyle of their own ethnic group, not focusing on others, try not to hide their nationality, try to respect and love their own and other peoples, in stressful situations they try to limit contacts with representatives of other ethnic groups, in conflict situations they pay attention to national differences, trying to agree peacefully without taking into account national characteristics) (Table 03 ); ethno-egoism (they strive for the lifestyle of their people, rarely feel the superiority of their own people over others, take into account that interaction with other nations can be a source of trouble, experience discomfort when they hear someone else's speech, try not to enter into close communication with people of other nationalities) (Table 03 ); ethno-isolationism (they allow friendship between people of the same nationalities, rarely believe that their people have the right to solve their problems at the expense of other peoples, try to notice the gifted and talented not only among representatives of their people, try to maintain the culture of their people) (Table 03 );

2) below the average level of ethnofanism (they only consider in stressful situations that the rights of a nation are always higher than human rights, rarely agree with the statement that any means are good for protecting the interests of their people, they try to maintain contacts with representatives of other nationalities, in a minority of cases they consider that people of other nationalities should live on their territory, only in acute conflict situations they think that the rights to use natural and social resources should belong to their people) (Table 03 ).

Most specialists without pronounced professional deformations identified such features of ethnic identity as:

1) higher than the average level of the emotional-value component of ethnic identity, sociocultural identity, regional identity, normal positive ethnic identity (a combination of a positive attitude towards one’s people and a positive attitude towards representatives of other peoples, an optimal balance of tolerance towards one’s and other ethnic groups, independence and sustainability of existence in an ethnic group, peaceful interethnic interaction in multi-ethnic groups) (Table 03 );

2) below the average level of racism, ethno-nihilism (hypo-identity, moving away from one’s ethnic group, searching in the socio-psychological hierarchy of reliable niches by other criteria), ethnic indifference (erosion of ethnic identity, uncertainty of ethnicity, irrelevance of an ethnic group), ethno-egoism (tension and irritation in communication with representatives of other ethnic groups, recognition of the right to solve problems at the expense of one’s own people), ethnic isolationism (belief in the superiority of one’s own ethnos, recognition of the need for purity of folk culture, negative attitude to interethnic marriage unions, xenophobia), ethnofanatism (willingness to take various actions in the name of national interests, refusal of representatives of other peoples in many natural and social resources, recognition of the priority of ethnic rights over human ones, excuses for victims in the struggle for the welfare and well-being of their own ethnic group) (Table 03 ).

Table 3 -
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Conclusion

Mathematical data processing made it possible to detect:

1) the marked tightness (strength) of the correlation between the high level of psychoemotional / emotional exhaustion and the average level of the emotional-value component of ethnic identity (0.64), sociocultural (0.56) and regional identity (0.55), racism (0.61), ethnonihilism (0.55), ethnic indifference (0.59), normal positive ethnic identity (0.56), ethno-egoism (0.60), ethno-isolationism (0.59);

2) moderate tightness (strength) of the correlation between the lower than the average level of ethnofanism and above the average level of depersonalization (0.48) (personal distance (0.49), the reduction of personal achievements (0.39) and professional motivation (0.40), professional deformations in general (0.44).

Acknowledgments

Thanks to all specialists who agreed to participate in the study of the ethnic identity of professional deformations.

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27 February 2021

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National interest, national identity, national security, public organizations, linguocultural identity, linguistic worldview

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Polyakova, O. B. (2021). Features Of The Ethnic Identity Of Specialists With Professional Deformations. In I. Savchenko (Ed.), National Interest, National Identity and National Security, vol 102. European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences (pp. 774-781). European Publisher. https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2021.02.02.97