Chapter 25: Exploring Gender Differences and Developmental Changes in Japanese Adolescent and Young Adult Self-Concept

Self-concept is a psychological construct that refers to one’s self-perceptions in various domains (e.g., academic, social, emotional, and physical) that derive from dispositional attributions and social experiences (Shavelson, Hubner, & Stanton, 1976). In the early stages of self-concept research, self-concept was assessed as a unidimensional construct (e.g., Bracken & Lamprecht, 2003; Markus & Wurf, 1987; Wilgenbusch & Merrell, 1999). Researchers have found it difficult to draw meaningful conclusions about the nature of and the development of self-concept from these early studies because they relied on different assessment tools that examined different facets of self-concept. Shavelson et al. (1976) helped shape the trajectory of subsequent self-concept research by proposing that self-concept researchers adopt a more integrative approach into their inquiries about the nature of and the development of self-concept.