Migrants' self-realization features in a polycultural city

Since the problem of self-realization of migrants is particularly important for Siberia and Tomsk and is associated with the educational potential of the city: a small territory has six major public universities, dozens of branches and commercial educational institutions, the aim of the research is to determine the peculiarities of migrants' self-realization (the Asian vector) in the multicultural environment of the city, and to compare the peculiarities of the indigenous population's (Russians') self-realization in the territory of Tomsk. The study involved 82 people, of which 42 are representatives of the Asian vector and 40 representatives of the Slavic peoples. The average age of the respondents was 19 to 25. The migrants who participated in the survey are voluntary migrants in the territory of Tomsk, their purpose was to obtain education, the length of their residence in the territory of Tomsk was from six months to four years. The choice of methodological tools was based on the objectives of the study and on the necessity of accounting for such features of migrants' self-realization as the compatibility of the culture of the recipient (host) country and of the donor country, individual psychological components of self-actualization, values and ideas about the fulfillment of migrants' life and the host population. The methodological tools are as follows. 1. The technique of Cultural-Value Differential, developed by G.Yu. Soldatova, I.M. Kuznetsov and S.V. Ryzhova. 2. A modified diagnostic questionnaire of self-actualization, a Russian adaptation of the self-actualization test by Shostrom, developed by N.F. Kalina and A.V. Lazukin. 3. The test of life value orientations, an adapted version of the Purpose in Life Test (PIL) by James Crumbaugh and Leonard Maholick. The author of the adaptation is D.A. Leont'ev (2000). The main approaches to the theory of self-realization, its structural-level content are considered. The attention is focused on the importance of self-realization of the migrant for the harmonious functioning of society as, namely, self-realization is the key to the stability of society as a whole, and the violation of the process of self-realization leads to personal problems, deformation and, consequently, destructive forms of behavior. The article considers the features of self-realization of workers (representatives of the Asian vector) in the multicultural environment of the region and a comparative analysis with the peculiarities of self-realization of the indigenous population (Russians) in Tomsk. The comparative analysis using Student's t-criterion allowed the authors to identify some differences in the groups of migrants and indigenous people. Thus, migrants are more likely to focus on their own cultural group, resist change and strong social control, which may be due to the collectivist type of Asian culture and their need in psychological protection in the process of adaptation to the new environment. Factor analysis allowed the authors to interpret the relationship among the components of self-realization taking into account cultural needs. The study serves as a launching pad for its use in the social sphere of a city and contributes to stability and sustainable balance in the field of interethnic and cross-cultural interactions.

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