changes in russian nationalist public opinion 2013–14One window on this public–private dichotomy can be gained
by asking Russians how they feel about members of their family
marrying migrants of different ethnic categories – with the impor-
tant proviso conveyed to respondents that these prospective in-
laws have the same income level as that of the respondent’s
family.^8 Interesting enough – and going against the rising sense
that ethnic diversity strengthens more than weakens Russia –
was a significant increase in the percentage of respondents who
saw ethnicity as an important factor in the choice of a marriage
partner for one’s relatives. In 2013, these respondents comprised
77 per cent of the sample and in 2014, 86 per cent.
On the whole, respondents remained averse to their relatives
marrying representatives of other ethnic groups coming from
outside their region or outside Russia. On a scale of 0 (least
acceptable) to 10 (most acceptable), the overwhelming major-
ity of respondents who thought ethnicity did matter picked the
bottom three options, indicating strong rejection of such mar-
riages. Figure 7.4 presents the combined percentages opting for 0,
1, and 2 on the scale for different ethnic groups, calculated among
the 77–86 per cent of the sample who felt that ethnicity mattered
for marriage. With most of these groups, the level of negative atti-
tudes was about the same in 2014 as in 2013. While Figure 7.4
shows a slight shift in the direction of greater tolerance for most
groups, the only such shift that is outside the margin of sampling
error was that regarding ethnic Georgians, and that change is still
under 10 per cent.
The most striking change that Figure 7.4 reveals is the spike
in rejection of migrant Ukrainians as marriage partners. In May
2013, Ukrainians joined Belarusians – who both share a common
Slavic identity with Russians – as by far the least rejected ethnic
out- group for marriage. By 2014, the share of respondents who
believed that ethnicity mattered for marriage and also believed
that Ukrainians were ‘highly unacceptable’ rose by nearly fourteen
percentage points from about 28 per cent in 2013. Opposition
to marrying similarly Slavic Belorussian migrants, however,
remained about the same, so this change cannot be said to reflect
a broader separation of Russians from other Slavic categories
more generally.