Religiousness of migrants from Central Asia in a large city

The aim of the study was to determine the occurrence of different religious practices in different categories of migrants and to identify religious groups with different acculturation strategies. In 2017, we interviewed 231 nonethnic migrants from Central Asian countries living in Ekaterinburg with the help of the standardized interview method. With an increase in the time spent in Ekaterinburg, both Muslims and Christians show increased number of religious practices used. Thus, with an increase in the duration of stay in the city, Muslims become more oriented toward the preservation of national and cultural identities, while those who have specified their religious affiliation as Christianity show orientation toward inclusion in the new non-Muslim culture. The religious activity of migrants is influenced by socio-demographic factors. With an increase in the level of education, religiosity weakens; with the transition from the female to the male gender group, it intensifies. Based on the indicators showing the degree of identification with the native and Russian culture and using the factor analysis, there was performed a comparative analysis of three religious groups of migrants: 1) those who have identified Islam as their religious affiliation and do the maximum number of religious practices; 2) those who have identified Islam as their religious affiliation but are not involved in any religious practice; 3) those who have specified Christianity as their religious affiliation. In the first group, both the orientation toward inclusion in Russian culture and the preservation of national-cultural identity are highly developed. In the second group, both tendencies are poorly manifested. In the third group, the tendency toward the preservation of national-cultural identity is undeveloped, while the tendency toward inclusion in Russian culture is developed only in some indicators. Relying on the theory of acculturation by J. Berry, we can talk about the predisposition of the first group of migrants to the integration strategy of acculturation, while the second group is predisposed to the marginal strategy. We defined the strategy of the third group as incomplete assimilation. We consider the integration strategy which is peculiar to group 1 (actively practicing Muslims) to be the most optimal and conflict-free strategy.