Studying National Identity and Personal Historical Experience in the Titular Armenian Ethnic Group and in the Armenian Diaspora in Russia

Introduction. Studying the psychological phenomenon of national identity from the subjective perspective merits special attention. This paper: (a) introduces a new concept of personal historical experience and (b) provides justification for this concept within the framework of the subjective analysis. The paper main objective is to investigate the relationship between national identity and historical experience of Armenian youth depending on a socio-cultural situation – whether they belong to the titular Armenian ethnic group or to the Armenian diaspora in Russia. Methods. The study of respondents’ national identity and personal historical experience included several stages and employed the following assessment techniques: (a) the International Social Survey Program modified by L. K. Grigor'yan; (b) the Ethnic Identity Types technique by G. U. Soldatova and S. V. Ryzhova; (c) the Scale for Rapid Evaluation of Ethnicity Feelings by N. M. Lebedeva; (d) the Scale for Rapid Evaluation of Ethnic Identity Manifestation by N. M. Lebedeva; and (e) the Questionnaire for Studying Historical Experience developed by the authors. Results. The study failed to find significant difference in manifestations of ethnic and civil identity in the participating groups. However, the investigated components of national identity showed various interrelations. The level of nationalism among representatives of the titular Armenian ethnic group was negatively associated with the evaluation of ethnicity feelings, positive ethnic identification, ethnic isolationism, and the degree of manifestation of ethnic identity and positively associated with ethnic nihilism, ethnic indifference, and ethnic egoism. The findings of the study of personal historical experience suggest that, though both study groups have an overlap in ‘crystallization points’, they also differ substantially: the representatives of the titular ethnic group have more differentiated and multi-faceted notions about historical events and prominent historical figures of Armenia. Discussion. The paper concludes with the discussion of characteristics of the relationships between personal historical experience and national identity in the titular ethnic group and the related diaspora. Personal historical experience facilitates the formation and preservation of national unity. Highlights • The subjective perspective can be a methodological foundation for studying personal historical experience as a psychological phenomenon. • Historical experience substantially affects the characteristics of national identity. People’s pride for their nation in certain historical events is a psychological foundation for the formation and preservation of national unity. • Different elements of national identity underlie the feeling of national pride in Armenian respondents from Russia and Armenia. These are ethnicity and pride for the ethnic group among the respondents from Armenia and pride for the ethnic group, but also the level of patriotism and positive ethno-identity among the respondents from Russia