Alterations in mindset of modern Buryats: the evidence from psychosemantic studies

Abstract

The article examines the changes in the mindset of Buryats from the standpoint of the psychosemantic approach. This qualitative methodology is especially relevant for cross-cultural studies. The authors have conducted a number of studies of value orientations, namely of the core of youth mindset.

In 2009, 60 college students in the city of Ulan-Ude (capital of Buryatia) were asked to assess 22 paintings on different subjects by Buryat artists of mid-20^th century. The students were supposed to give their judgments of how marked   was the expression of certain values in each painting (a list of values was provided to them). The outcomes were processed through factor analysis. The survey revealed that a clash of values can be observed in Buryats. In their value orientations, modern focus on personal development coexisted with some traditional values, such as social appraisal, and with insensitiveness to others (family ties, respect of parents). A latent intraethnic tension is clearly present – a personal identity status which determines the choice of individual strategy under the mutual interference between the world of archaic ancestral traditions and that of integrated cultures.

A tension in identificational practices was also revealed in 2017 survey of 140 students at Buryat State University. Logging on to the website of associative experiments, they received 104 stimulating words in Buryat language and asked to type in words and phrases triggering associations with the initial concept. This revealed the peculiarities of mindset of modern Buryats (plurality, multi-level identity, from the tribal and most local to the universal; self-consciousness of being “Buryat” with predominance of traditional values, religious syncretism, etc.).

Another cross-cultural study of value orientations among the youth (Buryat and Mongol students, 536 in total) was conducted in 2016-2017. It showed that Buryat youth is generally oriented towards traditional culture. At the same time, the ideology of family clan connections, the mythology of kin, orientation towards “being Buryat” coexists in the minds of youth with a focus on contemporary culture. Researchers documented the two-level structure of self-identifications of Buryat youth, which, in its turn, implicitly reflect their mindset.

Latent intraethnic tension discovered through opinion polling determines the choice of individual strategy in modern society. The positive type of ethnic identification generally prevails in Buryats, while marginal and hyperidentical strategies are found to be “floating” (from erosion and ambiguity of ethnic affiliation to fanatical adherence to it).