Living together in culturally plural societies poses numerous challenges for members of ethnocultural groups and for the larger society. An important goal of these societies is to achieve positive intercultural relations among all their peoples. Successful management of these relations depends on many factors including a research‐based understanding of the historical, political, economic, religious and psychological features of the groups that are in contact. The core question is ‘how we shall we all live together?’ In the project reported in this paper (Mutual Intercultural Relations in Plural Societies; MIRIPS), we seek to provide such research by reviewing three core psychological hypotheses of intercultural relations (multiculturalism, contact and integration) in 21 culturally plural societies. The main goal of the project is to evaluate these hypotheses across societies within the MIRIPS project in order to identify if there are some basic psychological principles that underlie intercultural relations panculturally. If there are, the eventual goal is to employ the findings to propose some policies and programmes that may improve the quality of intercultural relationship globally. An internal meta‐analysis using the MIRIPS project data showed that the empirical findings from these societies generally support the validity of the three hypotheses. Implications for the development of policies and programmes to enhance the quality of intercultural relations are discussed.

A survey of the cultural notions related to happiness and the existing empirical evidence indicate that some individuals endorse the belief that happiness, particularly an immoderate degree of it, should be avoided. These beliefs mainly involve the general notion that happiness may lead to bad things happening. Using multigroup confirmatory factor analysis and multilevel modeling, this study investigates the measurement invariance, cross-level isomorphism, predictive validity, and nomological network of the fear of happiness scale across 14 nations. The results show that this scale has good statistical properties at both individual and cultural levels. The findings also indicate that this scale has the potential to add to the knowledge about how people conceive of, and experience, happiness across cultures.

The belief that happiness is fragile-that it is fleeting and may easily turn into less favourable states-is common across individuals and cultures. However, not much is known about this belief domain and its structure and correlates. In the present study, we use multigroup confirmatory factor analysis and multilevel modelling to investigate the measurement invariance, cross-level isomorphism, predictive validity, and nomological network of the fragility of happiness scale across 15 nations. The results show that this scale has good statistical properties at both individual and cultural levels, and is associated with relevant psycho-social concepts in expected directions. The importance of the results, limitations, and potential directions for future research are discussed.The contribution of authors other than the corresponding author was equal and thus the second to last names are ordered alphabetically.Happiness is like trying to hold water in your hands. Michelangelo Antonioni. Happiness is like a butterfly which appears and delights us for one brief moment.

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Background. Identity and contacts are often studied from the perspective of inherent conflict potential for intergroup relations leading to prejudice and exclusion in societies which contain groups with different ethnic status. Nonetheless, there are certain identification and interaction mechanisms that can potentially mitigate or cancel these harmful effects. These comprise inclusive contacts and identities, in particular the positive inclusive identities, which allow to unite the representatives of different groups. It is important to find out what determines these identities and contacts. Schwartz’s theory of individual values has great potential for explaining the personality determinants of identities positivity and the intensity of contacts. Objective. The aim of the study was to examine the role of individual values and status of ethnic group in assessing the positivity of exclusive and inclusive identities, as well as in the intensity of exclusive and inclusive contacts among members of ethnic majority and minority groups. Design. The study was conducted on a sample of an ethnic minority (Russians living in the North Caucasus) and on a sample of an ethnic majority (Russians living in Moscow). The total sample size is = 499 respondents. The individual values were measured using a portrait value questionnaire – PVQ-R (Schwartz et al., 2012); positivity of ethnic identity, positivity of civic identity, positivity of regional identity, intercultural contacts, monocultural contacts were measured using the appropriate methods from the questionnaire of the MIRIPS project (Mutual intercultural relations in plural societies) (Berry, 2017). Results. The study found that (1) the values of Conservation underlie the positivity of exclusive ethnic and inclusive civic identities among members of the ethnic majority, (2) values of Openness to Change underlie exclusive monocultural contacts among ethnic minority and majority members, (3) values of Self-Enhancement underlie inclusive intercultural contacts among members of the ethnic minority. Conclusion. The results of this study revealed the motivational foundations of exclusive monocultural and inclusive intercultural friendship, which were based on the values of personal focus among the Russian ethnic minority and majority members. At the same time, the values of social focus turned out to underlie the positivity of the exclusive ethnic Russian and inclusive civic Russian identity among the ethnic Russian majority members. The research results have a wide potential for further theoretical and practical application in the field of intercultural relations and their harmonization.

Objective of the study is to develop and test a methodology for assessing the degree of involvement in the use of ICT in various areas of life. Background. Modern social and physical environments are saturated with digital incentives that encourage people to get involved in interacting with these environments through information and communication technologies (ICT). However, to this date, there are no psychological instruments that comprehensively assess the involvement of individuals in the use of ICTs. Study design. The study was conducted using a socio-psychological survey. To measure involvement in the use of ICT, an authoring methodology was developed and validated. Participants. The study included two samples. The first sample included 859 respondents (average age 36.1 years; 32% of males). The second — 171 respondents (35% of males; age range from 25 to 44 years). Measurements. For data processing, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, Cronbach coefficient alpha, and correlation analysis were applied in the SPSS 19.0 and AMOS 20 programs. Results. Good results of confirmatory factor analysis indicate the presence of reliability-consistency of the methodology. The final version of the methodology includes 4 scales: “Economic actions on the Internet”, “Communication on social networks”, “Using a smartphone”, “A variety of areas of ICT use”. The empirical and external validity of this methodology was also evaluated, as a result of which we received confirmation of these types of validity from the developed methodology. Conclusions. The technique developed by the authors is reliable and valid and can be used both for research and for applied purposes.