Universalities and Idiosyncrasies in Self-concept: Mexico, Peru, Chile

Self-concept has been crucial to the description of human beings since ancient times. In the case of psychology, different authors, mostly from individualistic societies have offered different definitions and approaches to the study of the self. Derived from the interest in the construct, many instruments have been developed to measure this multi-faceted construct. However, there is great difficulty in using definitions and instruments developed in one ecosystem to describe the peoples from different cultures. In order to include the universals and idiosyncrasies of the self, a model that takes culture into account is needed. Even then, there are some specific aspects to consider that relate to the particularities of each culture, making it important to consider and incorporate indigenous psychological findings.

The purpose of this paper is to compare the cognitive, emotional, and motivational aspects of the self-concept in three Latin American countries. Mexico, Peru and Chile, from a psycho-socio-cultural point of view. The paradigm for this purpose included responses to the self-concept inventory (Diaz-Loving, Reyes-Lagunes & Rivera-Aragon, 2002) by 600 participants divided equally by sex, two educational levels and the three countries. The discussion focuses on the importance of considering culture to understand the meanings that are given to this construct, placing emphasis on the methodological tools derived from the theoretical orientation that is proposed.