A cross-cultural comparison of the self-determination construct in Italian and American adolescents

Abstract

The functional theory of self-determination ( fSDT) defines and operationalises selfdetermination within a human agentic context. It emerged from research on adolescents with disabilities, however has been increasingly applied to youth without disabilities. While comparability has been evaluated in youth with and without disabilities, it has not been explored across cultures. The purpose of this study was to explore the crosscultural comparability of the fSDT in a sample of Italian and American adolescents. We were specifically interested in examining the universal aspects of the self-determination construct, as well as specific differences in the operationalisation of self-determination across cultures. The findings tentatively suggest that the construct of self-determination is comparable across Italian and American adolescents; however, there are specific differences in the measurement and operationalisation of self-determination across cultures. Directions for future research are discussed.

The Motivational Outcomes of Psychological Need Support among Pre-Service Teachers: Multicultural and Self-determination Theory Perspectives

“…Recent studies have compared students from different cultural backgrounds and revealed that the psychological mechanism that links basic psychological needs and motivation is similar across cultures (Chen et al, 2015;Ginevra et al, 2015).…”

Psychological peculiarities of the professional self-determination of social orphans in senior adolescence

“…Italian researchers offer using ASDA in cross-cultural studies to measure the universal aspects of the self-determination construct (Ginevra et al, 2015). They offered studying the self-determination of adolescents through independence, self-regulation, self-realization, and psychological expansion of rights and possibilities; this study investigated the professional self-determination of social orphans through the category of 'time perspective' and the choice of specific professions.…”

Examination of Cultural and Gender Similarities and Differences among Canadian and U.S. College Students on a Measure of Manifest Anxiety

“…There was multiple criteria used to determine whether invariance was tenable between a less and a more restrictive multi-group model. The criteria included a RMSEA value of the alternative model falling within the 90% confidence interval of the null model (Ginevra et al, 2015), a change in the RMSEA, ΔRMSEA, >.015 and a change in the CFI, ΔCFI, of <-.01 (Chen, 2007). Configural, weak, and strong invariance were considered tenable across the groups when the majority of criteria were met.…”