Psychological well-being and ethnic identities of Jewish adolescents planning emigration from Russia and Ukraine to Israel: Changes during the post-perestroika period

This study examines psychological well-being and ethnic identities of Jewish adolescents planning emigration from Russia and Ukraine to Israel. Measurements were conducted in 1999 (n = 654) and in 2005 (n = 243). The adolescents were questioned about half a year before they left their homeland. In Russia, adolescents who planned emigration in 2005 had less emotional and behavioral problems and suffered less from loneliness than their peers in 1999. In Ukraine, no improvement was found in psychological well-being; moreover, the school competence of adolescents who planned emigration in 2005 was lower compared to their peers in 1999. Adolescents who planned emigration from Russia and Ukraine in 2005 reported a more positive attitude towards their homeland and stronger identification with the ethnic majority in their homeland than the adolescents who planned emigration in 1999. The emigrants’ attitude towards Israel did not change from 1999 to 2005. Their identification with Jews was weaker in 2005 as compared with 1999. In both cohorts, the adolescents’ attitude towards Israel was more positive than their attitude towards Russia or Ukraine, and their identification with Jews was stronger than that with Russians or Ukrainians. In 1999, Russian/Ukrainian and Jewish-Israeli facets of the emigrants’ ethnic identity were contradictory, while they were complementary in 2005.