Incremental-Entity Personal Conceptions of Intelligence and Individualism-Collectivism in Italian Students

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between Incremental-Entity personal conceptions of intelligence and the cultural dimension of Individualism-Collectivism in Italian students attending high school. Four types of individualism and collectivism were investigated: 1) Vertical-Individualism, characterized by independent and different self; 2) Horizontal-Individualism, characterized by independent and similar self; 3) Vertical-Collectivism, characterized by interdependent and different self; and 4) Horizontal-Collectivism, characterized by interdependent and similar self. The sample includes 250 students,3th and 5th graders. A battery of tests including a Sociodemographic Questionnaire, the Italian version of the Scale of Personal Conceptions of Intelligence (Pepi, Faria, & Alesi, 2007) and the Italian version of the Daily Life Situations Questionnaire (Ciochină & Faria, 2006) were collectively administered during regular school hours.On the whole, results place the Italian students toward the pole of individualism with the representation of intelligence more oriented in entity terms. Moreover differences were found regarding the 4 contexts: School, Peer Group, Family and General Context. In conclusion, the research pointed out the close association between differences in personal beliefs about intelligence, such as the personal conceptions of intelligence, and the cultural dimension of individualism/collectivism.