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Cultural Context and Psychological Needs in Canada and Brazil

Testing a Self-Determination Approach to the Internalization of Cultural Practices, Identity, and Well-Being

University of Saskatchewan, v.chirkov{at}usask.ca

Richard M. Ryan

University of Rochester

Chelsea Willness

University of Calgary

Brazilian and Canadian students reported on the importance and frequency of cultural practices and values reflecting Triandis’s cultural model of individualistic-collectivistic and horizontal-vertical orientations. They also rated their relative autonomy for these practices and the degree to which parents and teachers supported self-determination theory’s psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. It was predicted that in both samples, despite the mean differences, greater relative autonomy and need support would be associated with greater well-being and cultural identity. It was also expected that vertical cultural orientations would be less well internalized in both Brazilian and Canadian groups. Means and covariance structure analyses verified measurement comparability. Results generally supported the hypotheses. Discussion focuses on the importance of internalization across cultural forms, the differentiation of autonomy from individualism and independence, and the relations between horizontal cultural orientations and psychological needs support.

Key Words: self-determination theory • cultural dimensions • well-being • internalization of culture

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