344 The Social Self
less imperative to stay on good terms with any one of these
groups. The collective self is therefore not so crucially
important. In addition, complex societies allow greater devel-
opment of the private self (because of the greater availability
of many social relationships). The public self is also quite
important because it is the common feature of all one’s social
relations. In contrast, in a simple society people belong to
relatively few groups, each of which is then quite important
in defining the self. The collective self flourishes in adapting
to these memberships, and the need to conform to the group
tends to stifle the private self.
Triandis (1989) illustrated some of his central ideas by
contrasting American and Japanese societies. Japan tends to
be tighter and more collectivistic than the United States, and
as a result there is much greater homogeneity: Japanese
citizens tend to eat the same foods, whereas Americans use
the prerogative of the private self and choose from a broad
assortment. Certain Asian traditions, such as having the
oldest male order the same food for the entire table, would be
unthinkable in the United States, where each individual’s
special preferences are honored.
Furthermore, Americans place a premium on sincerity. At
its base, sincerity is the congruency between public and
private selves: You are supposed to say what you mean and
mean what you say. In Japan, however, public actions are more
important than private sentiments. For example, Americans
object to hypothetical dilemmas in which people think one
thing and say another, whereas Japanese respondents approve
of these options.
Markus and Kitayama (1991) proposed that Asian and
Western cultures primarily vary in independence versus in-
terdependence.Western cultures, they argue, emphasize the
independent self: People are supposed to attend to them-
selves, to discover and express their unique attributes, and to
try to stand out in important ways. In the West, as they say,
the squeaky wheel gets the grease. In contrast, Asian cultures
emphasize interdependence. Asians are expected to attend to
others, to conform to group demands and role obligations,
and to try to fit into the group. In Asia, “the nail that stands
out gets pounded down.” To the Western mind, the self is
an autonomous unit that is essentially separate and unique,
whereas the Asian view begins with an assumption of the
basic and pervasive connectedness of people.
Multiple consequences flow from this idea. As might be
expected in an interdependent culture, relationship harmony
was more important to self-esteem for students in Hong Kong
compared to students in the United States (Kwan, Bond, &
Singelis, 1997). Because relationships are more intertwined
with the self in these cultures, they are more important to self-
esteem and life satisfaction. Self-enhancing biases also differ
between the two types of cultures. In general, Americans tend
to self-enhance, whereas the Japanese tend to self-criticize
(Kitayama, Markus, Matsumoto, & Norasakkunkit, 1997).
People from independent cultures also tend to describe oth-
ers in terms of cross-situational, person-centered traits (e.g.,
“He is stingy”). In contrast, people from interdependent cul-
tures tend to describe others more in terms of specific contexts
(e.g., “He behaves properly with guests but feels sorry if
money is spent on them”; Markus & Kitayama, 1991, p. 232).
Self-descriptions also vary between cultures (Bond &
Cheung, 1983; Cousins, 1989). Japanese college students
asked to finish a sentence beginning with “I am...”were more
likely to respond with social roles (“brother,” “student at
Tokyo University”), whereas American college students were
more likely to respond in terms of personal attributes (“outgo-
ing,” “blonde”). Thus, members of independent societies see
themselves and others in terms of relatively constant personal-
ity traits, whereas members of interdependent societies see
personality and behavior as more dependent on the situation.
In addition, interdependent societies do not emphasize
consistency among private thoughts and feelings as much as
independent societies do. In an interdependent society, it is
more important to be accommodating and kind than to be in-
ternally consistent. Among independent selves, politeness
means giving the other person the maximum freedom to ex-
press unique, special, and changing wants. Among interde-
pendent selves, however, politeness means anticipating what
the other might want and showing appreciation for their ac-
tions. There are also emotional consequences, as Markus and
Kitayama (1991) explain. In the West, the expression versus
suppression of anger has long been a point of controversy;
anger is socially disruptive, but it also expresses the needs of
the individual. In Asian cultures, however, there is no contro-
versy: Anger is to be avoided at all costs.
Thus it is important to consider culture when studying the
self. Most research on the self, like that on most psychologi-
cal topics, has involved participants from Western countries.
As a result, it may exaggerate the fundamental nature and
pervasiveness of the independent self. Although cultures
share many conceptions of selfhood, many others show strik-
ing differences.Historical Evolution of SelfIt is not necessary to visit multiple cultures to find variations
in selfhood. There is often ample variation within a single
culture, because cultural change over time modifies the soci-
ety. This is the root of research on birth cohort differences
(e.g., Caspi, 1987; Stewart & Healy, 1989; Twenge, 2000,
2001a, 2001b): Your generation influences the culture you are