Individualism-collectivism and personal conceptions of intelligence: guidelines of an intervention plan in the Romanian and Portuguese educational contexts

Abstract

In this study we analyze the relation between individualism-collectivism (IND/COL) and personal conceptions of intelligence (PCI) in Romania and Portugal. The IND/COL questionnaire - Anonymous Questionnaire of Self-Attitudes (Shulruf, Hattie, & Dixon, 2003-2007) - and the PCI questionnaire - Personal Conceptions of Intelligence Scale (Faria, 1990-2006) - were administrated to 1394 secondary school students, 758 Romanian and 591 Portuguese. On the whole, the results indicated that participants with dynamic PCI are more individualist, whereas static PCI are more characteristic of collectivist participants. Starting from the psychological and socio-cultural interpretation of the results, we proposed an intervention plan in the educational contexts of both countries.