The influence of living standards on interethnic relations (based on the sociological research in the Republic of Buryatia)

The paper presents the findings of a 2018 study that demonstrates the impact of economic factors and living standards on the assessment of interethnic relations in the national region. According to the authors, the deterioration of the socio-economic situation can become one of the main reasons for the destabilization of interethnic relations. A mass survey showed that the decline in living standards is perceived as a factor that has the greatest destabilizing potential in interactions between representatives of different ethnic groups. The difference in assessments between representatives of different income groups demonstrates that the poor often choose a decline in living standards as the most probable threat to interethnic relations. The authors claim that the similarity in living standards between Russians and Buryats, the two most prevalent ethnic groups in Buryatia, does not allow the negative impact of the economic factor to be strengthened.