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Svetlana D. Gurieva – Ph.D. (Advanced Doctorate) in Psychology, Professor, Saint Petersburg State University, Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation.

Migration for economic reasons is the movement of people for the purpose of employment and adequate remuneration. Labour migration can be caused for reasons such as the desire to change jobs, socio-cultural, housing, environmental, natural, climatic and other conditions. Only older people or people with disabilities can do without a developed economy and social sphere; all the others are included in the circle of potential migration, while the socio-psychological portrait of migrants is heterogeneous. Economic and social changes in modern society have led to intensive and extensive activities of migrants. The article provides an overview of the social, psychological and gender aspects of migration from three countries of Central Asia (former Soviet republics) Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to Russia (St. Petersburg). The main goal of our study was to identify the socio-psychological mechanisms of migration from Central Asia, the general and specific features of the process of acculturation of labour migrants. The study participants were labour migrants from Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The study was conducted in St. Petersburg. In total, 98 people aged 19 to 42 years participated in the study (MD = 32.26, SD = 3.44), among them women - 44%, men - 56%. Three ethnic groups presented our sample: Kyrgyz (34 people), Tajiks (32 people) and Uzbeks (32 people). The study revealed both general and specific features associated with certain ethnic groups. The results of the study show that there are significant differences between migrants from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in the following acculturation indicators: the number of social contacts (friends) among representatives of their nationality and the Russian-speaking population, type of acculturation strategy, degree of satisfaction with life, cultural and economic security, level of anxiety.