Social and Linguistic Aspects of the Tajik National Identity Formation: the Findings of the Survey of Students in Tajikistan

Background/Objectives: The article investigates the socio-cultural and socio-linguistic problems of the Tajik national identity and relationship to separating the boundaries between "us" and "them" based on a survey conducted in the university environment in Tajikistan. Methods/Statistical Analysis: The basis of the research was a survey conducted by the method of free association experiment at universities in the northern and southern regions of Tajikistan. The experiment involved 300 students aged between 18 and 21 years old, 76% among them are the Tajik, 24% being representatives of the Turkic ethnic groups of the country. The main purpose of the survey was to monitor the level of tolerance and ethnic stereotypes among young people, questionnaires included only 21-word stimuli. To achieve the research goal in this article, we have analyzed responses to "Tajik" (503), "the self" (179) and "the other" (167) stimuli. Findings: The association experiment analysis allowed determining characteristics of the formation of the youth national identity. Breaking social stereotypes, disunity among regions, radical Islamism, false "democratization", intolerance - all these among other political and social factors led to the fact that in 1992-1997 Tajikistan survived the civil war. To monitor existing problems in inter-ethnic relations and the level of tolerance among the young in Tajikistan, for the first time in the country a group of the University scientists carried out the association experiment at universities all over the country (a total of 470 respondents). The relevance of these studies is determined by the need for predicting the real problems of inter-ethnic cooperation among youth, building the policy of tolerance in the society, the possibility of preventing conflicts on regional and religious basis and tension in the state. A well-conducted study revealed the main components of the Tajik youth's auto-stereotype and identity. The analysis of the data gives an indication of the high level of the Tajik youth's national consciousness and patriotism (only 2 negative responses out of 503), respect for family values, moderate religiosity, sufficient openness and tolerance. Applications/Improvements: The significance of the research lies in the fact that its data and the results can be the basis for the creation of ethno-psychological portrait of a young Tajik, and further interdisciplinary research of this phenomenon.