Abstract
M.A.
The political situation in South Africa has changed over the past ten years to that of a democracy. A result of this dramatic change is the assemblage of various cultures within a given context, especially multicultural schools. From this the question arose whether adolescents of different cultures present with different levels of self-concept within multicultural schools. Furthermore, it was to be determined whether cultural identity correlates with self-concept.
Literature regarding the self, culture and cultural identity was used to get a better understanding of the study at hand. The theoretical frameworks of Allport and Rogers were studied to determine underlining factors involved in the formation of the self-concept. The various dimensions of the self, including self-esteem and self-labelling, was investigated as well as recent research regarding the self-concept. Research has shown that the self-concept of Black people is directly connected to their cultural norms and reference group (Allen, 2000). Differences between individualistic and collectivist groups have been identified, as well as the effect it has on social roles and the definition of the self. Regarding the issue of self-esteem and cultural identity research has shown a strong positive correlation between the level of self-esteem and cultural identity.
Research has also shown that pupils in multicultural schools have a better understanding of cultural diversity and tolerance. The effects of negative stereotyping and labelling on the self within a multicultural environment are however issues to be taken into consideration.
Tajfel and Turner’s (1979) Social Identity Theory provided the focus on cultural identity. Research regarding cultural identity within South Africa, contributed to the understanding of in-group and out-group categorization and it has been found that association with a particular group determined definition of the self.
From the literature used it thus became apparent that the self- concept and cultural identity is closely linked, although a multicultural environment could have an impact on the self. This formed the basis for conducting the research on the impact of a multicultural context on the self-concept.
The instruments used comprised of a cultural identity questionnaire, as well as the Beck and SIP self-concept scales. Participants of three different cultural groups were used namely, Black, White and Coloured individuals. Participants, between the ages of 16-17 were given the questionnaires to complete on cultural identity as to determine their level of association with a particular group. The self-concept scales evaluated their self-concept as either positive or negative. Additionally, the participants’ cultural identity scores were statistically divided to create two groups, one which scored low and another which scored high on cultural identity and these groups were compared on self-concept. Thus, this study attempted to control for cultural identity in terms of its influence on self-concept within a multicultural context.
Results have shown that there is a strong positive correlation between self-concept and a cultural identity. Both of the self-concept scales showed this correlation in regards to Cultural Identity. Furthermore, statistically significant difference between the self-concept scores of the different cultural groups namely Black, White and Coloured Participants was found. It can thus be stated that cultural identities have a role to play in the manner in which we perceive ourselves, and more research is needed in this area to fully understand the scope of it. Research in this matter may also have a positive effect on the understanding of integration of different cultures in South Africa, especially within the educational context.