Murari Regmi

Cultural Dimensions, Gender, and the Nature of Self-concept: A Fourteen-country Study

Ratings of the importance of and satisfaction with 20 areas of the self were obtained from 3604 first or second year social science undergraduates from 14 countries (15 cultures). Factor analysis at the culture by gender level supported four factors for both sets of ratings. The resulting factor scores were analyzed for mean differences according to the cultural dimension of Individualism-Collectivism by Gender and by correlations with other cultural dimenions and economic indicators. It was found that participants from the 10 collectivist cultures placed greater salience for their self-concepts on “family values” than did those from the individualist cultures. However, this cultural difference was not found for “social relationships”. The expected gender differences, with females valuing “family values” and “social relationships” more highly, were found only for the individualist countries. The findings indicate that there may be a strong cultural level interaction effect between gender and Individualism-Collectivism on the nature of self-conceptions, and that the “family” and “social” aspects of self-concept in collectivist countries need to be considered separately.

Conceptions of learning among Nepalese students

The paper presents a phenomenographic study of conceptions of academic learning among Nepalese students. Students from various disciplines at the Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu were interviewed about their understanding and experience of learning. The results are related to previous studies in Nepal, using Bigg‘s Study Process Questionnaire and written responses to open questions. They are also compared to similar phenomenographic studies carried out in the East as well as the West. The present study indicates, among other things, that Nepali students look upon memorising and understanding as interlinked in a way not usually found among Western students. The results are described within a two-dimensional outcome space, derived from previous studies of learning experience conducted in various cultural settings, and providing a general framework for different conceptions of learning.

Deity and Destiny Patterns of Fatalistic Thinking in Christian and Hindu Cultures

The current studies investigate whether different forms of fatalistic thinking follow from the Christian and Hindu cosmologies. The authors found that fatalistic interpretations of one’s own life events center on deity influence for Christians, especially for those high in religiosity; however, Hindu interpretations of one’s own life emphasized destiny as much as deity (Study 1). Also, the focus on fate over chance when explaining others’ misfortunes depends on the presence of known misdeeds for Christians, but not for Hindus (Study 2). Finally, Christians prefer petitionary prayer over divination as a strategy for managing uncontrollable future risks (Studies 3a and 3c), and preference for these strategies can be primed in bicultural Hindu Americans by a Hindi-accented telephone interviewer (Study 3b).

Toward the Cross-Cultural Validation of a Western Model of Student Approaches to Learning

The cross-cultural validity of the Approaches to Studying Inventory (ASI) was supported in an investigation of 302 first-year undergraduates enrolled at a Nepalese university. Evidence of a meaningful learning process model underlying ASI responses was found. As predicted, self-esteem correlated significancy with a more versatile approach to learning. Differences were found between the responses of Australian and Nepalese students to the ASI, but these were not easy to interpret.

Gender Differences in Self-Construal: How Generalizable Are Western Findings?

Abstract The authors used the Twenty Statements Test in 2 studies to investigate gender and country differences in the spontaneous self-descriptions of 811 college students from Hong Kong, India, Nepal, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe and 136 secondary school students from Taiwan and Hong Kong. The authors performed statistical analysis and found no significant gender differences in the percentage of responses classified as belonging to the idiocentric self in either study. However, the authors found significant Country effects in both studies for responses classified as representing the idiocentric self and some aspects of the collective self, and the authors found significant Country × Gender effects involving all 4 categories of the idiocentric self and the collective self for the college students. These findings raise questions about the generalizability of Western findings that males are more likely to espouse an independent conception of self than females. However, as the authors predicted, females were more likely to use small group self-descriptions than their male peers.

Attitudes toward Cancer: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Nepalese and U.S. Students

The Cancer Metaphors Test, a measure designed to assess the imagery of cancer, was administered to samples of Nepalese (n = 228) and U.S. (n = 184) graduate students. For both samples, no significant age, gender, or field of study differences were obtained, but Nepalese students scored higher than U.S. students on both Terminal Pessimism and Future Optimism. Within each sample, scores on pessimism were higher than scores on optimism. An analysis of the individual metaphors suggested some differences but also substantial commonality of endorsement.

Antecedents of Self-Esteem of Nepalese and Filipino College Students

Abstract Correlates of possible antecedent variables with self-esteem instruments based on the Shavelson model are reported here for 302 Nepalese and 198 Filipino college students. Unlike Western studies using such instruments, the Nepalese and Filipino female students had significantly lower overall self-esteem than their male peers. Like these Western studies, however, the strength of the correlation depended on the particular facet of self-esteem in question.

Forgiveness and interpersonal relationships: A nepalese investigation

ABSTRACT The present study examined the practice of forgiveness in Nepal. A model relating collectivism and forgiveness was examined. Participants (N = 221) completed measures of collectivism, individualism, forgiveness, conciliatory behavior, and motivations for avoidance and revenge toward the offender. Collectivism was positively related to forgiveness. Forgiveness was strongly related to conciliatory behavior and motivations for avoidance and revenge toward the offender. Decisional forgiveness was a stronger predictor of motivations for revenge than was emotional forgiveness.

The structure of self-esteem of nepalese children

Confirmatory factor analysis of responses to items of a Western self-esteem instrument by 398 15- or 16-yr.-old Nepalese youth supports a single general factor rather than a multidimensional model of the self.

The basis of self-esteem of urban and rural Nepalese children

(1993). The Basis of Self-Esteem of Urban and Rural Nepalese Children. The Journal of Social Psychology: Vol. 133, No. 2, pp. 255-257.