SELF-IMAGE OF ADOLESCENTS - A STUDY OF FOUR CULTURES

• NCJ Number: 46539
• Journal: Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 6 Issue: 3 Dated: (1977) Pages: 265-280
• Author(s): DL OFFER; E OSTROV; K I HOWARD
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 16 pages
• Corporate Author: Plenum Publishing Corp
• Sale Source: Plenum Publishing Corp
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: PRESENTED AT THE AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATION, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 20, 1976

Annotation

CROSS-CULTURAL APPLICATION OF THE OFFER SELF-IMAGE QUESTIONNAIRE (OSIQ), A SELF-DESCRIPTIVE PERSONALITY TEST FOR 13-TO-19-YEAR OLDS WHICH IS CONSIDERED CAPABLE OF IDENTIFYING DELINQUENT SUBGROUPS, IS OUTLINED.

Abstract

THE OSIQ IS A 130-ITEM TEST COVERING 11 AREAS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONING IMPULSE CONTROL, EMOTIONAL TONE, BODY AND SELF-IMAGE, SOCIAL ATTITUDES, MORALS, FAMILY RELATIONS, EXTERNAL MASTERY, VOCATIONAL AND EDUCATIONAL GOAL PSYCHOPATHOLOGY, SUPERIOR ADJUSTMENT, AND SEXUAL ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIORS. INITIAL TESTING WITH A VARIETY OF AMERICAN ADOLESCENT POPULATIONS INDICATE A HIGH DEGREE OF CONSISTENCY ACROSS SAMPLES FOR ITEM-SCALE SCORE CORRELATIONS. TO EXAMINE THE TEST'S CROSS-CULTURAL VALIDITY, IT WAS ADMINISTERED TO PREDOMINANTLY MIDDLE-CLASS ADOLESCENTS IN ISRAEL, AUSTRALIA, IRELAND, AND THE U.S. AUSTRALIAN SUBJECTS WERE YOUNGER (13 TO 15), WHILE ISRAELI SUBJECTS WERE OLDER (16 TO 19) OVERALL THAN THE IRISH AND AMERICAN SUBJECTS. DATA ON DELINQUENT AND EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED SUBJECTS WERE AVAILABLE ONLY FOR THE AMERICAN SAMPLE. ANALYSIS OF DATA INDICATED THAT THE OSIQ SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENTIATES BETWEEN A RANDOM SAMPLE OF NORMAL ADOLESCENTS, MALE AND FEMALE, YOUNG AND OLD, AND CONTRASTED SAMPLES OF DELINQUENT AND EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED ADOLESCENTS. THIS WAS TRUE FOR THE TOTAL SCORES, AND ALL SCALES WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE SEXUAL ATTITUDES SCALE. IN THE COMPARISON BETWEEN DELINQUENT AND EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED SUBJECTS, THE DELINQUENTS HAD A HEALTHIER SELF-IMAGE ON FIVE OF THE SCALES AND THE TREND WAS IN THE SAME DIRECTION ON THE REMAINING SIX SCALES. A COMPARISON OF NORMAL MALES AND FEMALES INDICATED THAT MALES HAD A HEALTHIER SELF-IMAGE ON THE IMPULSE CONTROL AND SEXUAL ATTITUDES SCALES THAN FEMALES, WHILE FEMALES HAD A HEALTHIER SELF-IMAGE ON THE MORALS SCALES. SEX DIFFERENCES WERE MORE PRONOUNCED FOR YOUNG THAN FOR OLDER ADOLESCENTS. OVERALL, AMERICAN ADOLESCENTS REPORTED THEMSELVES TO HAVE A HEALTHIER SELF-IMAGE ON 7 OF THE 11 SCALES AND OVERALL THAN DID THE OTHER CULTURAL SAMPLES. SELF-IMAGE SEX DIFFERENCES WERE LESS PRONOUNCED FOR MALE AND FEMALE IRISH ADOLESCENTS THAN FOR THE OTHER CULTURES. YOUNG AMERICAN AND IRISH FEMALES REPORTED THEMSELVES HEALTHIER THAN THEIR MALE COUNTERPARTS, WHILE AUSTRALIAN MALES REPORTED THEMSELVES HEALTHIER THAN AUSTRALIAN FEMALES. ON THE SEXUAL ATTITUDES SCALE, MALES SCORED HIGHER THAN FEMALE, AND SEXUAL POLARITIES WERE GREATEST AMONG IRISH AND ISRAELI MALES AND FEMALES. RESULTS ARE BRIEFLY DISCUSSED. ADDITIONAL CROSS-CULTURAL VALIDATION OF THE ISIQ IS BEING UNDERTAKEN. SUBSTANTIAL TABULAR DATA AND REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (JAP) RESULTS ARE BRIEFLY DISCUSSED. ADDITIONAL CROSS-CULTURAL VALIDATION OF THE OSIQ IS BEING UNDERTAKEN. SUBSTANTIAL TABULAR DATA AND REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (JAP)