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Cultural Dimensions, Gender, and the Nature of Self‐concept: A Fourteen‐country Study
Author(s) -
Watkins David,
Akande Adebowale,
Fleming James,
Ismail Maznah,
Lefner Kent,
Regmi Murari,
Watson Sue,
Yu Jiayuan,
Adair John,
Cheng Christopher,
Gerong Andres,
McInerney Dennis,
Mpofu Elias,
SinghSengupta Sunita,
Wondimu Habtamu
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
international journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.75
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1464-066X
pISSN - 0020-7594
DOI - 10.1080/002075998400583
Subject(s) - collectivism , individualism , psychology , social psychology , hofstede's cultural dimensions theory , individualistic culture , salience (neuroscience) , cultural values , gender role , sociology , gender studies , political science , law , cognitive psychology
Ratings of the importance of and satisfaction with 20 areas of the self were obtained from 3604 first or second year social science undergraduates from 14 countries (15 cultures). Factor analysis at the culture by gender level supported four factors for both sets of ratings. The resulting factor scores were analyzed for mean differences according to the cultural dimension of Individualism‐Collectivism by Gender and by correlations with other cultural dimenions and economic indicators. It was found that participants from the 10 collectivist cultures placed greater salience for their self‐concepts on “family values” than did those from the individualist cultures. However, this cultural difference was not found for “social relationships”. The expected gender differences, with females valuing “family values” and “social relationships” more highly, were found only for the individualist countries. The findings indicate that there may be a strong cultural level interaction effect between gender and Individualism‐Collectivism on the nature of self‐conceptions, and that the “family” and “social” aspects of self‐concept in collectivist countries need to be considered separately.