DISTANCE OF SERBIAN, MACEDONIAN AND BULGARIAN STUDENTS TOWARDS NEIGHBORING NATIONS

The paper establishes the degree of distance of the student population in Serbia, Macedonia and Bulgaria towards neighboring nations. The measured distance indicates the conflicting potential of the observed student population, as well as the possibility of mitigating this potential through common “friends”. In addition to the average distance, the degree of homogeneity of the student population in relation to the measured distance is analyzed,which indicates a consolidation of ethnic identity by identifying/constructing a common “enemy”. The distance is measured by the Bogardus scale of seven (un)acceptable relations (with uneven degree of intimacy) with members of the neighboring nations. We have found that realistic conflict as perceived threat by Serbian students translates into relatively smaller distance towards ethnic out-groups than symbolic threat to national identity as perceived by Macedonian students. In all three sub samples the magnitude of distance is associated with the field of study, in Serbian sub sample with parents’ education, and in neither sub sample it is associated with students’ sex.The analysis was carried out on the data from the empirical research of the value orientations of students within the project “Tradition, modernization and national identity in Serbia and the Balkans in the process of European integration”, realized by the Center for Sociological Research at the Faculty of Philosophy in Nis.