ALLOCENTRIC AND IDIOCENTRIC SELF-DESCRIPTION AND ACADEMIC-ACHIEVEMENTAMONG MEXICAN-AMERICAN AND ANGLO-AMERICAN ADOLESCENTS

Open-ended interviews assessing the type and importance of self-descri ptors were conducted with Mexican American and Angle American adolesce nts. 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 g roups 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 o f idiocentric and allocentric self-description. In addition, ratings o f grade point average and perceived academic competence were positivel y related to idiocentrism and negatively related to allocentrism.