Influence of culture on athletic self-identity: A cross-cultural analysis of Japanese and Chinese female athletes

Abstract

  The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between culture and the formation of athletic self-identity in female athletes in Japan and China. The participants were 181 female athletes from Japan (collegiate level 145, high school level 36) and 168 from China (collegiate 97, high school 71), who completed the Scale for Independent and Interdependent Construal of Self and the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale (AIMS). The reliability and validity of both scales were confirmed by Cronbach's alpha and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), respectively. The results indicated that there were significant differences in athletic identity between Japanese and Chinese female athletes (t=2.69, p<.001): those in Japan demonstrated higher values of athletic identity than those in China. Multiple regression analysis showed that Japanese female athletes demonstrated only causal relationship of independent cultural self-awareness in predicting athletic identity (β=.19, p<.05) and that Chinese female athletes demonstrated causal relationships of the both cultural self-awareness in predicting athletic identity (independent self: β=.22, p<.01; interdependent self: β=.29, p<.001). The present findings suggest that cultural background has an influence on individual identity, i.e. identity as an athlete in this context.