Peculiarities of social representations of Russians in Czechs and Americans

Abstract

The results of the study of the structure of social representations of Russians in Czechs and Americans of different age groups (268 respondents) are presented. Special attention is given to analysis of meaningful and emotional components of social representations which were studied using an interview, an association method and projective techniques. The structure of the field of representations in two national groups is compared. The content of social representations of Russians is concluded to vary depending on respondents’ nationality, age and territory of residence. The existence of three major determinants of constructing social representations of other (alien) national groups (personal experience of communication, mass media influence, collective memory content) is suggested.