Allocentric and Idiocentric Self-Description and Academic Achievement Among Mexican American and Anglo American Adolescents

Open-ended interviews assessing the type and importance of self-descriptors were conducted with Mexican American and Anglo American adolescents. Consistent with previous work in cross-cultural self-description, Mexican Americans were more likely to give allocentric responses than Anglo Americans were. Different patterns of results from the ethnic groups emerged when total importance versus average importance ratings were used, suggesting that previous methods of determining importance on the basis of response quantity may not provide a complete picture of idiocentric and allocentric self-description. In addition, ratings of grade point average and perceived academic competence were positively related to idiocentrism and negatively related to allocentrism.