The article is devoted to the work of the neurologist, physiologist, psychologist V.M. Bekhterev (1857-1927) and the history of Institute for research of the brain and mental activity in the time of ideological confrontations modified graph-scheme technique, Singelis's technique of independent/dependent self-interpretation, DeCicco's metapersonal self-interpretation and the semantic differential. The study confirmed the hypothesis on connection between the sociocultural situation and the dominant type of self-interpretation. A comparative study showed that at the nucleus of the ethnic norm in Armenian students are qualities of openness and concern for others, while in Russian students those are qualities connected with achievement. The study also looked into differences in notions of the ethnocultural ideal in the title ethnos and the diaspora, in notions of the social norm and values in the context of actual life and activity, in the I-image in the context of ethnocultural norms and values in the title Russian and Armenian ethnic groups and the diasporas.