Cross-Cultural Study of the Characteristics of Students' Self-Concept

Personal Self-concept can be viewed as an antecedent of ones’ educational and career achievements. It is a complex multidimensional construct. This study examines aspects of academic self-esteem: mathematical and verbal. An important factor influencing the formation of self-esteem is the environment – cultural values and economic development of the country. Previous empirical studies have shown differences in overall self-esteem among individuals from individualistic and collectivistic cultures. We decided to investigate self-esteem in more details and consider the differences and similarities in self-esteem by two factors "Mathematical self-esteem" and "Verbal self-esteem" of students from Russia and Kyrgyzstan. These countries share a common historical background and a similar educational system, but differ at the cultural level. This pilot study was conducted among students from Russia and Kyrgyzstan, using the questionnaire "Self Description Questionnaire". The research sample included 510 undergraduate students aged 18 to 27 years (60% – Russia, 40% – Kyrgyzstan). Statistical analysis of the data was performed using Cohen's d to determine the effect size for significant differences between the means. The results of the study indicate a higher level of mathematical self-concept among students from Russia, which can be explained by differences in cultural dimensions – individualism and collectivism. At the same time, no significant differences in verbal self-esteem were found. This is due to its complexity. So, the communicative aspect of verbal self-esteem is more pronounced in the Eastern culture, and the speech aspect – in the Western one.

1. Abulkhanova-Slavskaya K.A. Lichnostnye mekhanizmy regulyacii deyatel'nosti [Personal mechanisms of activity regulation]. Problemy psychologii lichnosti [Problems of personal psychology], 1982, pp. 92– (In Russ.).
2. Lebedeva N.V., Kuzmina Y.V. Samoocenka kak vozmozhnyj prediktor kar'ery v oblasti STEM: adaptaciya oprosnika dlya izmereniya pyati faktorov samoocenki [Self-assessment as a Possible Predictor of STEM Career: Adaptation of the Questionnaire to Measure Five Self-Assessment Factors]. Sovremennaya zarubejnaya psikhologia = Contemporary foreign psychology, 2018, Vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 53–
3. Zhuravlev A.L., Kupreychenko A.B. Social’no-psihologicheskoe prostranstvo lichnosti [Socio-psychological space of personality], 2012. (In Russ.).
4. Aslani S., Ramirez‐Marin J., Brett J., Yao J., Semnani‐Azad Z., Zhang Z.X., ... & Adair W. Dignity, face, and honor cultures: A study of negotiation strategy and outcomes in three cultures. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 2016. Vol. 37, no 8, pp. 1178–1201. DOI:10.1002/job.2095
5. Ayalon H., Livneh I. Educational standardization and gender differences in mathematics achievement: A comparative study. Social science research, 2013. Vol. 42, no 2, pp. 432– DOI:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2012.10.001
6. Becker M., Vignoles V.L., Owe E., Easterbrook M.J., Brown R., Smith P.B., ... & Aldhafri S. Cultural bases for self-evaluation: Seeing oneself positively in different cultural contexts. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2014. Vol. 40, no. 5, pp. 657–675. DOI:1177/0146167214522836
7. Bleidorn W., Arslan R.C., Denissen J.J., Rentfrow P.J., Gebauer J.E., Potter J., Gosling S.D. Age and gender differences in self-esteem – A cross-cultural window. Journal of personality and social psychology, 2016. Vol. 111, no. 3, pp. 396. DOI:10.1037/pspp0000078
8. Chen B.H., Chiu W.C., Wang C.C. The relationship among academic self-concept, learning strategies, and academic achievement: A case study of national vocational college students in Taiwan via SEM. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 2015. Vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 419–431. DOI:10.1007/s40299-014-0194-1
9. Chiu M.M., Khoo L. Effects of resources, inequality, and privilege bias on achievement: Country, school, and student level analyses. American Educational Research Journal, 2005. Vol. 42, no. 4, pp. 575–
10. Chiu M.M., Klassen R.M. Relations of mathematics self-concept and its calibration with mathematics achievement: Cultural differences among fifteen-year-olds in 34 countries. Learning and Instruction, 2010. Vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 2– DOI:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2008.11.002
11. Cohen J. Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. Academic press, 2013. DOI:4324/9780203771587
12. Craven R.G., Marsh H.W. The centrality of the self-concept construct for psychological wellbeing and unlocking human potential: Implications for child and educational psychologists. Educational and Child Psychology, 2008. Vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 104–
13. Eun C.S., Wang L., Xiao S.C. Culture and R2. Journal of Financial Economics, 2015. Vol. 115, no. 2, pp. 283–303. DOI:1016/j.jfineco.2014.09.003
14. Fenigstein A., Scheier M.F., Buss A.H. Public and private self-consciousness: Assessment and theory. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 1975. Vol. 43, no. 4, pp. 522. DOI:10.1037/h0076760
15. Fischer R., Schwartz S. Whence differences in value priorities? Individual, cultural, or artifactual sources. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 2011. Vol. 42, no. 7, pp. 1127– DOI:10.1177/0022022110381429
16. Fulmer C.A., Gelfand M.J., Kruglanski A.W., Kim-Prieto C., Diener E., Pierro A., Higgins E.T. On “feeling right” in cultural contexts: How person-culture match affects self-esteem and subjective well-being. Psychological Science, 2010. Vol. 21, no. 11, pp. 1563–1569. DOI:1177/0956797610384742
17. Gudykunst W.B., Gao G., Franklyn-Stokes A. Self-monitoring and Concern for Social Appropriateness. Asian contributions to cross-cultural psychology, 1996. Vol. 4, pp. 255–
18. Guiso L., Monte F., Sapienza P., Zingales L. Culture, gender, and math. SCIENCE-NEW YORK THEN WASHINGTON, 2008, Vol. 320, no. 5880, pp. 1164. DOI:10.1126/science.1154094
19. Hamamura T., Septarini B.G. Culture and self-esteem over time: A cross-temporal meta-analysis among Australians, 1978–2014. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2017. Vol. 8, no. 8, pp. 904– DOI:10.1177/1948550617698205
20. Heine S.J. Where is the evidence for pancultural self-enhancement? A reply to Sedikides, Gaertner, and Toguchi (2003). 2005. DOI:10.1037/0022-3514.89.4.531
21. Heine S.J., Takata T., Lehman D.R. Beyond self-presentation: Evidence for self-criticism among Japanese. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2000. Vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 71–
22. Khalaila R. The relationship between academic self-concept, intrinsic motivation, test anxiety, and academic achievement among nursing students: Mediating and moderating effects. Nurse Education Today, 2015. Vol. 35, no. 3, pp. 432– DOI:10.1016/j.nedt.2014.11.001
23. Lent R.W., Brown S.D., Larkin K.C. Self-efficacy in the prediction of academic performance and perceived career options. Journal of counseling psychology, 1986. Vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 265.
24. Leung A.K.Y., Cohen D. Within-and between-culture variation: individual differences and the cultural logics of honor, face, and dignity cultures. Journal of personality and social psychology, 2011. Vol. 100, no. 3, pp. 507. DOI:10.1037/a0022151
25. Markus H.R., Kitayama S. Cultural variation in the self-concept. The self: Interdisciplinary approaches. Springer, New York, NY, 1991, pp. 18–
26. Marsh H.W. The multidimensional structure of academic self-concept: Invariance over gender and age. American Educational Research Journal, 1993. Vol. 30, no. 4, pp. 841–
27. Marsh H.W., Parker P.D., Pekrun R. Three paradoxical effects on academic self-concept across countries, schools, and students: Frame-of-reference as a unifying theoretical explanation. European Psychologist, Vol. 24(3), pp. 231–242. DOI:10.1027/1016-9040/a000332
28. Marsh H.W., Shavelson R. Self-concept: Its multifaceted, hierarchical structure. Educational psychologist, 1985. Vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 107–
29. Marsh H.W., Smith I.D., Barnes J., Butler S. Self-concept: Reliability, stability, dimensionality, validity, and the measurement of change. Journal of educational psychology, 1983. Vol. 75, no. 5, pp. 772.
30. Mejía-Rodríguez A.M., Luyten H., Meelissen M.R.M. Gender Differences in Mathematics Self-concept Across the World: an Exploration of Student and Parent Data of TIMSS 2015. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 2020, pp. 1–22. DOI:10.1007/s10763-020-10100-x
31. Park G., Lubinski D., Benbow C. P. Ability differences among people who have commensurate degrees matter for scientific creativity. Psychological Science, 2008. Vol. 19, no. 10, pp. 957–
32. Pyszczynski T., Greenberg J., Solomon S., Arndt J., Schimel J. Converging Toward an Integrated Theory of Self-Esteem: Reply to Crocker and Nuer (2004), Ryan and Deci (2004), and Leary (2004). Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 130, no. 3, pp. 483–488. DOI:10.1037/0033-2909.130.3.483
33. Sax L.J., Kanny M.A., Riggers-Piehl T.A., Whang H., Paulson L.N. “But I’m not good at math”: The changing salience of mathematical self-concept in shaping women’s and men’s STEM aspirations. Research in Higher Education, 2015. Vol. 56, no. 8, pp. 813–842. DOI:10.1007/s11162-015-9375-x
34. Schmitt D.P., Allik J. Simultaneous administration of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale in 53 nations: exploring the universal and culture-specific features of global self-esteem. Journal of personality and social psychology, 2005. Vol. 89, no. 4, pp. 623. DOI:10.1037/0022-3514.89.4.623
35. Sedikides C., Gaertner L., Toguchi Y. Pancultural self-enhancement. Journal of personality and social psychology, 2003. Vol. 84, no. 1, pp. 60.
36. Sedikides C., Strube M.J. Self evaluation: To thine own self be good, to thine own self be sure, to thine own self be true, and to thine own self be better. 1997.
37. Shavelson R.J., Hubner J.J., Stanton G.C. Self-concept: Validation of construct interpretations. Review of educational research, 1976. Vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 407–
38. Simpkins S.D., Davis-Kean P.E., Eccles J.S. Math and science motivation: A longitudinal examination of the links between choices and beliefs. Developmental psychology, 2006. Vol. 42, no. 1, pp. 70– DOI:10.1037/0012-1649.42.1.70
39. Snyder M. Self-monitoring processes. Advances in experimental social psychology. Academic Press, 1979. Vol. 12, pp. 85–128.
40. Strandell J. Culture, cognition and behavior in the pursuit of self-esteem. Poetics, 2016. Vol. 54, pp. 14– DOI:10.1016/j.poetic.2015.08.007
41. Temirbekova Z., Latovb Y.V., Latovac N.V., Temirbekov Z. Work-related values: a comparison of four post-soviet countries. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2014. Vol. 109, pp. 794– DOI:10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.12.545
42. Triandis H.C., Brislin R., Hui C.H. Cross-cultural training across the individualism-collectivism divide. International journal of intercultural relations, 1988. Vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 269–
43. Education for Some More than Others? Geneva: UNICEF Regional Office for Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. 2019 [Electronic resource]. URL: http://www.crin.org/docs/Regional_Education_Study.pdf.
44. United Nations Development Programme: Human Development Index 2019 [Electronic resource]. United Nations Development Programme. URL: http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdr2019.pdf (Accessed 20.10.2020).
45. Wigfield A., Eccles J.S. Students’ Motivation during the middle school years: Improving academic achievement: Impact of psychological factors on education, 2002.
46. World Bank: Gross Domestic Product 2020. World Bank Open Data. URL: https://databank.worldbank.org/data/download/GDP.pdf (Accessed 20.10.2020).
47. World Values Survey (WVS). URL: http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSOnline.jsp (Accessed 20.10.2020).