Chapter 7: Generality of Self-Perception Models in the Arab Culture: Results from 10 Years of Research

Ever since Shavelson, Hubner, and Stanton (1976) published their seminal article about self-concept structure, there has been a proliferation of related research in Western societies and, to some extent, in non-Western societies. In non-Western societies, more often than not, samples are “assessed on a range of criteria related to constructs such as intelligence, anxiety, motivation, and self-concept, on assumptions derived from research with middle class, protestant, white Americans, or their European counterparts” (Marsh, Craven, & McInerney, 2003, p. 11). Bempechat and Drago-Severson (1999) argue that some aspects of psychology across cultures are universal; however, the unique history and sociocultural backgrounds of each culture may have serious influences on its psychology. As local tools and theories in non-Western cultures are not readily available, researchers tend to use Western tools and to apply Western theories or models to their local samples with little or no reformulations. Brislin, Lonner, and Thorndike (1973) cautioned against such a tendency and argued that by applying cross-culturally a conceptual framework or a test originated and standardized in one country, a “psychologist may be imposing an artificial etic and losing emic or meaningful aspects of the other cultures as practiced by their members” (p. 24).