A cross-cultural validation of adolescent self-concept in two cultures: Japan and Sweden

Main Article Content

Saori Nishikawa
Torsten Norlander
Per Fransson
Elisabet Sundbom
Cite this article:  Nishikawa, S., Norlander, T., Fransson, P., & Sundbom, E. (2007). A cross-cultural validation of adolescent self-concept in two cultures: Japan and Sweden. Social Behavior and Personality: An international journal, 35(2), 269-286.


Abstract
Full Text
References
Tables and Figures
Acknowledgments
Author Contact

The psychometric properties of the SDQII (Self-Description Questionnaire II; Marsh, 1992) were examined, and the extent to which Japanese and Swedish adolescents differ in their self-concepts and actual-ideal discrepancies was investigated. Further gender differences were explored. The SDQII and Actual-Ideal Questionnaires (designed for this study) were administered to 144 Japanese and 96 Swedish adolescents (range = 14 to 15 years). The main results show that the psychometric properties of the SDQII were satisfactory in both cultures, making these instruments useful in further investigations. Japanese adolescents generally reported a lower self-concept (with the exception of physical and math self-concepts) and higher self-discrepancies than did the Swedish adolescents. In addition, the gender differences were smaller compared to the influence of the cultural effect.

Only available in PDF
Only available in PDF
Only available in PDF

Appreciation is due to reviewers including

Barbara Byrne

PhD

School of Psychology

University of Ottawa

Ottawa

Ontario

Canada K1N 6N5

Email

[email protected]

Mehdi Ghazinour

Department of Social Welfare

Umeå

University

901 87

Sweden

[email protected]">[email protected]

Kumi Hirokawa

Department of Hygiene and Preventative Medicine

Okayama University Medical School

2-5-1 Shikata-cho

Okayama 700-8558

Japan

[email protected]">[email protected]

Professor Dr. Ulrich Kuhnen

International University of Bremen

P.O. Box 750 561

28725 Bremen

Germany

[email protected]

Saori Nishikawa, Department of Clinical Sciences, Division of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology, Umeå University, 901 87, Umeå, Sweden. Phone: +46 90 785 6317; Fax: +46 90 13 53 24; Email: [email protected]

Article Details

© 2007 Scientific Journal Publishers Limited. All Rights Reserved.