SELF-CONCEPT AND COMPETITIVENESS IN THREE NATIONAL CULTURES

Among the various studies on cross-cultural aspects of self-concept there is a huge lack on relation of self-concept to competition. In our study, we try to reject a stereotype, that competition is not a desired personal characteristic. The principal hypothesis is, therefore, that if competition is investigated in a context of self-concept, positive dimensions as well as correlations with self-concept areas can appear. As a consequence, a new model of self-concept, based on different kinds of competition, could be postulated. It could also be assumed that this model might differ from culture to culture. There were, accordingly, participants from three countries taking part in the study. The countries were chosen on basis of the political and cultural indicators in Eastern/Southern versus Western/Southern European transitions: Slovenia, Serbia and Spain. There are two particular aims to the research. The first one is to find out if there are any differences in self-concept and competition among participants from different countries. In accordance with the second aim, the investigation of the correlations between self-concept and competition within each national cultural group is underlined. The study comprised 169 Slovene, 99 Serbian and 140 Spanish participants. We found that the cultural indicator has a significant impact on self-concept and competition. What is more, it could be assumed that 'Southern' disposition predominates over Eastern as well as Western dimensions, which means that Slovenes could be among the more competitive participants, but have lower self-concept areas than their Southern peers.