A cross-cultural validation of adolescent self-concept in two cultures: Japan and Sweden
Main Article Content
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.
Appreciation is due to reviewers including
Barbara Byrne
PhD
School of Psychology
University of Ottawa
Ottawa
Ontario
Canada K1N 6N5
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