Social Distances in a Multi Ethnic Region

Rezumat

The paper presents the results of a sociological study conducted in some multiethnic communities situated in the central area of Moldova, Romania. Its main aim was to establish the ethnic identity of Catholic population in the villages of this region and to discover the way in which these communities build their ethnic and cultural identity. We used the scale of social distance, starting from the model developed by Bogardus (1925), which has become the most frequently used method of emphasizing the acceptance or isolation of social groups. We calculated the Social Distance Index (SDI) which highlights the number of social contact opportunities rejected by the respondent, the Social Contact Index (SCI) derived from the number of social contact opportunities accepted by the respondents, and the Qualitative Index of Social Contacts (QISC). The results are focused on ethnic aspects and local features of studied communities and the conclusions reveal the methods of ethnic self-defining for each community and their tendency to conserve local identity by refusing external influences that have an ideological stake.