The research question of this thesis is to identify what factors motivate Belarusians' support for state sovereignty from Russia and from the USSR. Four independent variables are worth examining: the type of national identity (civic or ethnic), the link between ethnicity and national identity, economic interests, and attitudes towards nationalist symbols. These variables relate to the modernist, ethnoculturalist, instrumentalist, and constructivist theories of nations. The effect of these variables is tested by using control variables such as region of origin, settlement type, age, gender, religion, and education.

The methods used consist in the analysis of secondary sources in order to measure how historical evidence can substantiate the above mentioned variables. Another method is a survey conducted among Belarusians to measure the influence of these variables.

Historical evidence indicates that the absence of an historical narrative acceptable to all Belarusians undermined a common identity, and that a civic model of identity favorable to Russia became more accepted than the nationalist identity model based on ethnicity. Evidence also shows that state consolidation reinforced Belarusians' will to wrestle independence from Russia. Survey results in turn indicate a direct relationship between the type of national identity and from which state Belarusians want sovereignty. Civic identity influences support for sovereignty from a political state, like the USSR, while ethnic identity influences support for sovereignty from an ethnic state like Russia. Most of all, attitudes favorable to nationalist symbols emerged as having the most consistent effect on support for sovereignty. While Belarusians do not consider ethnic ancestry as a criterion for nationality they favor an identity model that can be termed "national-cultural."