Trust as a factor of psychological security in interethnic interaction

The direction and role of trust as a factor of psychological security in social interac- tion is the subject of research attention of Russian and foreign scientists. Confidence appears as a generalized socio-psychological phenomenon, conditioned by the history and experience of previous interpersonal and socio-institutional interactions, features of national cultures and traditions, moral norms and values, attitudes and stereotypes. In the interethnic interaction, a large share in the content of trust relations acquires the experience of interethnic relations, ethno-cultural competence, the lack of intragroup and inter-group aggression, the unity of vectors and perceptions of the security of indi- vidual. To identify indicators of a sense of security, a study was conducted comparing respondents’ perception (N = 514) of themselves in danger, in safety and in an actual state. Factorial-analytical processing allowed to reveal the structure of the personal safety of respondents, where as the significant are five factors. The leading factor (explained variance of 25.653%) is trust, which gives grounds to consider the possibil- ity of providing trust as one of the main indicators of psychological security. Studies conducted in polyethnic groups of students also showed that the phenomenon of trust is an important factor in their psychological security.