Media Use And Identity Construction Among Russian Immigrants In Canada

Abstract

The paper explores the role of media use (in both Russian and English) in the process of integration of middle-aged highly educated Russian immigrants in Canada. Five semi-structured interviews were conducted for this qualitative study and further analyzed using the Appraisal theory in order to reveal how the respondents evaluate their experience and how they position themselves in a new environment. The study combined a cross-cultural psychology model of acculturation strategies (Berry, 1997) with a media type consumers’ model (Adoni et al., 2006) to reveal the role of media consumption in the process of identity construction. The results of the study demonstrate that consumption of media is one of the factors that might affect the success of integration. However, other factors also need to be taken into account.