Cultural Self-Construals of Mexican, Spanish, and Danish College Students: Beyond Independent and Interdependent Self

摘要

Cross-cultural research over the past two decades has shown very important differencesin self-construal. However, the comparison of a wider range of cultures is needed to furtherunderstanding into this relationship. In contrast to Markus and Kitayama's distinction betweenindependent and interdependent self-construal, authors such as Matsumoto, Kagitcibasi, andOyserman and colleagues have defended a more complex, multidimensional, and situatedperspective on self-construal. Recent studies using theTwenty StatementTest (TST) as a measureof self-construal have supported this multidimensional view of the construct.The current studyexplored self-descriptions in college students from three different countries (Denmark, Spain,and Mexico) by using a shortened version of the TST. The results evidenced some unexpectedcultural differences in self-construal. Danish participants referred proportionally less to privateand personal attributes and qualities than their Mexican and Spanish participants, and they mademore references to interdependence and responsiveness to other. Results do not fit with some basicassumptions of Markus and Kitayama's theory and give support to the view of self-construal asmultidimensional and with variations associated with personal and situational factors.