The thesis studies the characteristics of subjective wellbeing, self-construal and their interconnectedness, based on a sample of Slovenian (N = 240), Croatian (N = 212) and Czech (N = 160) students. We explored whether the integrative cultural model of interconnectedness applies to these countries. The model has been previously confirmed in some of the originally collectivist East-Asian cultures (Cheng et al, 2011), which, similarly as Slovenia, Croatia and Czech Republic, experienced quick socio-economic changes in the last decades. The model presupposes the connectedness of the interdependent and independent self-construal with the subjective wellbeing components, because neither the independent nor the interdependent self-construal as such is sufficient for subjective wellbeing. Both are actually presupposed as two separate mechanisms that complement each other. In the thesis, we use Independent and Interdependent Self Scale (IISS; Lu and Gilmour, 2007) for measuring the self-construals, and The Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF; Keyes, 2002) for measuring the aspects of subjective wellbeing. The data is gathered with a battery of questionnaires, designed for the purposes of the intercultural study International Study of Emotional Intelligence. The presupposed hypotheses on the relations between the self-construal and subjective wellbeing are only partially supported by the results. All three aspects of subjective wellbeing (emotional, psychological and social) show statistically important corellations to the independent as well as interdependent self-construal. However, there are some differences between the countries, despite their relative geographic proximity. The findings suggest the culturally-specific processes of self-construal and subjective wellbeing. The results show that it is not reasonable to equate these three countries and join them into one group based on their self-construal, as there are many regional differences among them.
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