Abstract
Russian-speakers represent the oldest and biggest immigrant group in Finland, with the majority of them having migrated to the country after the collapse of the Soviet Union in early 1990s. This chapter gives an overview of their integration with a focus on social psychological studies. Integration is a multifaceted phenomenon that includes immigrants’ acquisition of new sociocultural skills, forming of new social relationships, and psychological adjustment. When looking at integration from these perspectives, Russian-speaking immigrants have adjusted quite well. They form and cherish ties to both Finnish society and Russian culture, and have a positive outlook on their future in Finland. However, there are challenges too: Russian-speakers often face mistrust and discrimination in the labor market and other spheres of life. The studies reviewed here show that engaging in positive intergroup contact with majority Finns is crucial for the integration of Russian-speakers, as it promotes their adaptation and fuels positive attitudes toward the Finnish majority and other immigrant groups living in the country. In line with recommendations given by minority rights experts and international organizations, we conclude that the integration efforts of this significant and rapidly growing immigrant group should be met with a more efficient and holistic integration program.
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Social Psychological Research Programme on Intergroup Relations in Finland, known as the ESSO group (see https://blogs.helsinki.fi/esso-group/).
List of Publications in the Social Psychological Research Program Reviewed Above:
Brylka, A., Mähönen, T. A., & Jasinskaja-Lahti, I. (2015a). National identification and intergroup attitudes among members of the national majority and immigrants: Preliminary evidence for the mediational role of psychological ownership of a country. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 3(1), 24–45. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v3i1.275.
Brylka, A., Mähönen, T. A., Schellhaas, F. M., & Jasinskaja-Lahti, I. (2015b). From cultural discordance to support for collective action: The roles of intergroup anxiety, trust, and group status. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 46(7), 897–915. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022115589118.
Brylka, A., Jasinskaja-Lahti, I., & Mähönen, T. A. (2016). The majority influence on interminority attitudes: The secondary transfer effect of positive and negative contact. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 50, 76–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2015.12.007.
Jasinskaja-Lahti, I. (2008). Long-term immigrant adaptation: Eight-year follow-up study among immigrants from Russia and Estonia living in Finland. International Journal of Psychology, 43(1), 6–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207590701804271.
Jasinskaja-Lahti, I. (2009). To identify or not to identify? National disidentification as an alternative reaction to perceived ethnic discrimination. Applied Psychology, 58(1), 105–128. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-0597.2008.00384.x.
Jasinskaja-Lahti, I., & Yijälä, A. (2011). The model of pre-acculturative stress: A pre-migration study of potential migrants from Russia to Finland. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 35(4), 499–510. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2010.11.003.
Jasinskaja-Lahti, I., Horenczyk, G., & Kinunen, T. (2011). Time and context in the relationship between acculturation attitudes and adaptation among Russian-speaking immigrants in Finland and Israel. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies., 37(9), 1423–1440. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2011.623617.
Jasinskaja-Lahti, I., Mähönen, T. A., & Ketokivi, M. (2012a). The dynamics of ethnic discrimination, identities and outgroup attitudes: A pre–post longitudinal study of ethnic migrants. European Journal of Social Psychology, 42(7), 904–914. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.1916.
Jasinskaja-Lahti, I., Mähönen, T. A., & Liebkind, K. (2012b). Identity and attitudinal reactions to perceptions of intergroup interactions among ethnic migrants: A longitudinal study. British Journal of Social Psychology, 51(2), 312–329. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8309.2011.02059.x.
Jasinskaja-Lahti, I., Mähönen, T. A., Varjonen, S., Arnold, L., Yijälä, A., & Jurva, K. (2013). Two perspectives on diaspora migrant identities: The case of Ingrian Finns. In E. Tartakovsky (Ed.), Immigration: Policies, challenges and impact (pp. 255–276). New York: Nova Science.
Jasinskaja-Lahti, I., Celikkol, G., Renvik, T. A., Eskelinen, V., Vetik, R., & Sam, D. L. (2018). When psychological contract is violated: Revisiting the rejection-disidentification model of immigrant integration. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 6(2), 484–510.
Jasinskaja-Lahti, I., Renvik, T. A., Van der Noll, J., Eskelinen, V., Rohmann, A., & Verkuyten, M. (2019). Dual citizenship and perceived loyalty of immigrants. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430219872809.
Larja, L., Warius, J., Sundbäck, L., Liebkind, K., Kandolin, I., & Jasinskaja-Lahti, I. (2012). Discrimination in the Finnish labor market. An overview and a field experiment on recruitment. Publications of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment 16/2012. Accessed September 10, 2018, from https://yhdenvertaisuus.fi/documents/5232670/5376058/Discrimination+in+the+Finnish+Labour+Market
Lönnqvist, J.-E., Jasinskaja-Lahti, I., & Verkasalo, M. (2011). Personal values before and after migration: A longitudinal case study on value change in Ingrian-Finnish migrants. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2(6), 584–591. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550611402362.
Lönnqvist, J. E., Jasinskaja-Lahti, I., & Verkasalo, M. (2013). Rebound effect in personal values: Ingrian Finnish migrants’ values two years after migration. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 44(7), 1122–1126. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022113480040.
Lönnqvist, J. E., Leikas, S., Mähönen, T. A., & Jasinskaja-Lahti, I. (2015). The mixed blessings of migration: Life satisfaction and self-esteem over the course of migration. European Journal of Social Psychology, 45(4), 496–514. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2105.
Mähönen, T. A., & Jasinskaja-Lahti, I. (2012). Anticipated and perceived intergroup relations as predictors of immigrants’ identification patterns: A follow-up study. European Psychologist, 17(2), 120–130. https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040/a000114.
Mähönen, T. A., & Jasinskaja-Lahti, I. (2013). Acculturation expectations and experiences as predictors of ethnic migrants’ psychological well-being. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 44(5), 786–806. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022112466699.
Mähönen, T. A., & Jasinskaja-Lahti, I. (2015). The ironic effect of national identification on support for collective action. European Journal of Social Psychology, 45(5), 567–574. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2118.
Mähönen, T. A., & Jasinskaja-Lahti, I. (2016a). ‘Meet me halfway’: Socio-cultural adaptation and perceived contact willingness of host nationals as predictors of immigrants’ threat perceptions. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 26(2), 125–135. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.2238.
Mähönen, T. A., & Jasinskaja-Lahti, I. (2016b). Ramifications of positive and negative contact experiences among remigrants from Russia to Finland. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 22(2), 247–255. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000059.
Mähönen, T. A., & Yijälä, A. (2016). Inkerinsuomalaisten paluumuuttajien kotoutuminen Suomeen [The integration of Ingrian-Finnish remigrants to Finland] (Tutkimuskatsauksia) (Vol. 7). City of Helsinki Urban Facts: Helsinki.
Mähönen, T. A., Jasinskaja-Lahti, I., & Liebkind, K. (2011). Cultural discordance and the polarization of identities. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 14(4), 505–515. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430210379006.
Mähönen, T. A., Ihalainen, K., & Jasinskaja-Lahti, I. (2013a). Specifying the contact hypothesis in a minority-minority context: A social identity perspective. Zeitschrift Fur Psychologie – Journal of Psychology, 221(4), 223–231. https://doi.org/10.1027/2151-2604/a000152.
Mähönen, T. A., Leinonen, E., & Jasinskaja-Lahti, I. (2013b). Met expectations and the wellbeing of diaspora immigrants. A longitudinal study. International Journal of Psychology, 48(3), 324–333. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207594.2012.662278.
Mähönen, T. A., Brylka, A., & Jasinskaja-Lahti, I. (2014a). Perceived ethnic superiority and immigrants’ attitudes towards multiculturalism and the national majority. International Journal of Psychology, 49(4), 318–322. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijop.12048.
Mähönen, T. A., Jasinskaja-Lahti, I., & Ketokivi, M. (2014b). Mapping the individual-level dynamics of perceived discrimination and attitudes toward multiculturalism and cultural maintenance: A pre-post study of migration. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 39, 124–135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2013.10.006.
Mähönen, T. A., Varjonen, S., Prindiville, N., Arnold, L., & Jasinskaja-Lahti, I. (2015). Boundaries of national belonging in Ingrian Finnish return migration. Nordic Journal of Migration Research, 5(3), 126–134. https://doi.org/10.1515/njmr-2015-0018.
Nortio, E., Varjonen, S., Mähönen, T. A., & Jasinskaja-Lahti, I. (2016). Interpretative repertoires of multiculturalism. Challenging the majority – Minority juxtaposition in supporting multiculturalism. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 2, 623–645. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v4i2.639.
Pentikäinen, M. (2015). Venäjänkielisten integraatio Suomessa: Suomen valtiotason linjaukset kansainvälisten asiantuntijaelinten suositusten valossa – suomalaisen integraatio-, vähemmistö- ja kielipolitiikan uudelleenarvioinnin paikka? Oikeus, 44(2), 121–148.
Renvik, T. A., Brylka, A., Konttinen, H., Vetik, R., & Jasinskaja-Lahti, I. (2018). Perceived status and national belonging: The case of Russian speakers in Finland and Estonia. International Review of Social Psychology, 31(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.5334/irsp.149.
Renvik, T. A., Manner, J., Vetik, R., Sam, D. L., & Jasinskaja-Lahti, I. (2020). Citizenship and socio-political integration: A person-oriented analysis among Russian-speaking minorities in Estonia, Finland and Norway. Journal of Social and Political Psychology (In Press).
Varjonen, S. (2013). ‘We’re Finns here, and Russians there’: A longitudinal study on ethnic identity construction in the context of ethnic migration. Discourse & Society, 24(1), 110–134. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926512463632.
Varjonen, S., Jurva, K., & Jasinskaja-Lahti, I. (2015). “You should have told me that earlier”: Ethnic return migrants’ accounts of discrimination. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 35, 268–286. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X15599023.
Varjonen, S., Nortio, E., Mähönen, T. A., & Jasinskaja-Lahti, I. (2018). Negotiations of immigrants’ cultural citizenship in discussions among majority members and immigrants in Finland. Qualitative Psychology, 5(1), 85–98. https://doi.org/10.1037/qup0000074.
Visintin, E. P., Brylka, A., Green, E. G., Mähönen, T. A., & Jasinskaja-Lahti, I. (2016). The dynamics of interminority extended contact: The role of affective and cognitive mediators. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 22(4), 467–478. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000089.
Yijälä, A. (2012). Pre-acculturation among voluntary migrants. Dissertation, Department of Social Research, University of Helsinki, Helsinki.
Yijälä, A., & Jasinskaja-Lahti, I. (2010). Pre-migration acculturation attitudes among potential ethnic migrants from Russia to Finland. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 34(4), 326–339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2009.09.002.
Yijälä, A., Lönnqvist, J. E., Jasinskaja-Lahti, I., & Verkasalo, M. (2012). Values as predictors of anticipated socio-cultural adaptation among potential migrants from Russia to Finland. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 22(2), 95–110. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.1104.
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Renvik, T.A., Jasinskaja-Lahti, I., Varjonen, S. (2020). The Integration of Russian-Speaking Immigrants to Finland: A Social Psychological Perspective. In: Denisenko, M., Strozza, S., Light, M. (eds) Migration from the Newly Independent States. Societies and Political Orders in Transition. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36075-7_21
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