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Handbook of Identity Theory and Research pp 249–265Cite as

Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Identity

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Abstract

Substantial variations have been found in the ways in which individuals within different cultural groups identify themselves. Typically, members of individualistic national cultures perceive themselves as more independent of others, while members of collectivistic national cultures perceive themselves as more interdependent with others. In early studies, self-construal was most frequently conceptualised as a relatively trait-like quality that could be measured by open-ended self-description or by self-report scales. To be validly employed, data from such measures need to be analysed in ways that take account of cultural differences in the tendency to acquiescent responding. Independent and interdependent self-construals have been found to correlate with cross-national differences in a wide variety of social behaviours. More recently, greater account has been taken of individuals’ capacity to choose between a range of personal and social identities, dependent upon the salience of alternative social contexts. The effect of context is much greater among respondents from collectivistic cultures. The contrast between independent and interdependent self-construal has proved oversimple, and a range of alternatives has been proposed. A distinction between individual, relational and collective identities may more validly capture the range of cross-cultural variation. Given that self-construals are mutable, experimental priming techniques can be used to determine the extent to which variations in self-construal are able to cause effects that are equivalent to cultural differences in social cognition. Recent studies have focused primarily on bicultural respondents, and the utility of priming studies to explain differences between monocultural populations remains to be determined.

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  1. School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, UK

    Peter B. Smith

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  1. Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, Department of Epidemiology and Public He, University of Miami, N.W. 10th Avenue, Suite 321 1425, Miami, 33136, Florida, USA

    Seth J. Schwartz

  2. , Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Leuven, Tiensestraat 102, Leuven, 3000, Belgium

    Koen Luyckx

  3. School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9QH, United Kingdom

    Vivian L. Vignoles

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Smith, P.B. (2011). Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Identity. In: Schwartz, S., Luyckx, K., Vignoles, V. (eds) Handbook of Identity Theory and Research. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7988-9_11

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