Self-Ingroup Relationships

Abstract

The individualist and collectivist value orientations of 40 English (EC), 40 French (FC), and 36 Italian (IC) Canadian children, aged 10 to 12, were investigated relative to three themes: ideal self, self-esteem, and peer relations. The study intended to determine whether the individualist value orientations displayed in an earlier study by younger EC children were now shared by those of other ethnic groups. Although most children expressed comparable conceptions of self-esteem and self-centered projections of an ideal self, significant differences persisted, and others emerged with respect to self-ingroup relationships across ethnic and gender groups. As expected, ECs were the most individualist, ICs the most peer oriented, and FCs the most family oriented. Accentuation of gender differences was encountered, but not consistently for the three ethnic groups. Although the North American individualist value orientations of the ECs appeared to reflect egalitarian child-rearing values, the different values toward significant others of the FC and IC male and female preteenagers suggest different parental modes of gender role socialization. Results are discussed within cross-cultural perspectives on self-ingroup relationships, and the implications of the results are discussed with regard to cultural diversity in Canada.