title: The association between negative self-descriptions and depressive symptomology: does culture make a difference?
abstract: Research findings that depressed Americans endorse more negative self-related adjectives than controls may be related to a shared self-enhancement cultural frame. This study examines the relationship between negative core self-descriptors and depressive symptoms in 79 Japanese and 50 American women. Americans had more positive self-descriptions and core self-descriptors; however, there were no cultural group differences in number of negative self-descriptors or core self-descriptors. There was a significant correlation between negative core self-descriptor and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) for Americans only, explaining 10.6% of the BDI variance. Analysis of variance revealed that there was significant BDI group differences for American negative core self-descriptor only. Theoretical possibilities are discussed.
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing, Michigan State University, East Lansing 48824, USA.
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Saint Arnault
authors.forename: Shinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sakamoto
authors.forename: Aiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moriwaki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000884:Anthropology, Cultural; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology*; D005008:Ethnopsychology; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D016014:Linear Models; D015146:Midwestern United States; D009341:Negativism; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012649:Self Concept; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012945:Social Values; D012951:Socialization; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000208:ethnology; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014495:Universities; D014930:Women / Q000523:psychology