Russian speakers’ acculturation in Finland and Latvia : the role of language and news media engagement

This study uses the acculturation framework to engage in a comparative exploration into the acculturation of Russian speakers’ in Finland and Latvia, with a particular focus on media engagement and language preferences. Specifically, I trace the historical trajectory of Russian-language media and the development of the diaspora in Latvia and Finland, spanning from the Russian conquests of Latvia (1710) and Finland (1809) to the 2020s. Acculturation is operationalized in terms of cultural involvement (CI) and cultural preference (CP), following the model proposed by Carlson and Güler (2018), and complemented by news media and language use domains. This dissertation consists of three articles. Drawing on survey data from both countries (N = 224), the study revealed that participants’ CI and CP orientations tended toward a middle point, indicating a state of biculturality. In terms of media use, the overall analysis suggests predominantly higher engagement with non-Russian news media sources compared to Russian ones. However, a closer examination revealed nuanced findings. In terms of language, this research also identified a significant relationship between participants’ CI scores and language proficiency. Going beyond proficiency, the language most frequently used outside the home emerged as a key factor explaining a substantial proportion of the variation in both CI and CP. Applied beyond its original context in the USA, the CI and CP scales proved reliable when tested in the context of Russian speakers in Latvia and Finland. Such measures benefit from creative complements, as exemplified here by the inclusion of language and news media aspects atop acculturation. Possible theoretical and practical implications of the findings are also discussed.