Susan E. Cross

The Relational-Interdependent Self-Construal and Relationships

Three studies describe the development and validation of a measure of the relational-interdependent self-construal, which is defined as the tendency to think of oneself in terms of relationships with close others. Study 1 reports the development, psychometric properties, and tests of validity of this new measure. Individuals who scored high on the Relational-Interdependent Self-Construal (RISC) Scale characterized their important relationships as closer and more committed than did individuals who scored low on this measure (Study 1) and were more likely to take into account the needs and wishes of others when making decisions (Study 2). In Study 3, using a dyadic interaction paradigm with previously unacquainted participants, the partners of persons who scored high on the RISC scale viewed them as open and responsive to their needs and concerns; these perceptions were related to positive evaluations of the relationship.

Possible Selves across the Life Span

Possible selves have been defined as personalized representations of one’s self in future states. In a study described in this article, respondents between the ages of 18 and 86 years were asked to de

“Who Am I?” The Cultural Psychology of the Conceptual Self

This study investigated whether self-concepts that arise from participation in interdependent cultural contexts, in this case the self-concepts of Japanese students, will be relatively more sensitive to situational variation than will self-concepts that arise in independent cultural contexts, in this case the self-concepts of U.S. college students. The self-concepts of 128 Japanese and 133 U.S. women were assessed in one of four distinct social situations: in a group, with a faculty member, with a peer, and alone in a research booth. Furthermore, the authors examined the hypothesis that Japanese self-concepts would differ from American self-concepts in valence, reflecting normative and desirable tendencies toward self-criticism. American and Japanese participants differed in the content, number, and range of self-descriptions. As predicted, the situation had a greater influence on the self-descriptions of the Japanese participants than on the Americans’ self-descriptions, and the self-descriptions of the Japanese were more negative.

The What, How, Why, and Where of Self-Construal

Since the publication of Markus and Kitayama’s pivotal article on culture and the self, the concepts of independent, relational, and interdependent self-construal have become important constructs in cultural psychology and research on the self. The authors review the history of these constructs, their measurement and manipulation, and their roles in cognition, emotion, motivation, and social behavior. They make suggestions for future research and point to problems still to be sorted out. Researchers interested in these constructs have many opportunities to make important contributions to the literature in a variety of fields, including health psychology, education, counseling, and international relations.

Self-Construals, Coping, and Stress in Cross-Cultural Adaptation

This study examines differences in the independent and interdependent self-construals of American and East Asian students studying in the United States and the influence of these self-construals on coping and stress. Path analysis revealed that the importance of the independent self-construal was positively related to direct coping strategies, which predicted reduced levels of stress for the international students. Ratings of the importance of the interdependent self-construal were positively related to increased stress for the Asian students. The self-constuals and direct coping were the strongest predictors of stress for East Asian students; variables commonly identified in other research addressing cross-cultural adaptation (e.g., number of host country friends, relationships with conationals, language ability, and previous cross-cultural experience) did not significantly predict stress for the international students. The effects of the self-construals and coping were moderated by culture, however, and were not predictive of perceived stress for American students.

The Relational-Interdependent Self-Construal, Self-Concept Consistency, and Well-Being

Examination of the assumptions underlying consistency perspectives in social and personality psychology reveals that they are based on an independent, individualistic view of the self. If the self is constructed as relational or interdependent with others, consistency may be less important in social behavior and well-being. Using a variety of measures of well-being, the studies showed that there is a weaker relation between consistency and well-being for individuals with a highly relational self-construal than for those with a low relational self-construal. Study 3 examined the association between the self-construal, consistency, authenticity, and well-being. These findings reveal the importance of a cultural analysis of theories of the self, personality, and well-being for further theory development.

Thinking about oneself and others: the relational-interdependent self-construal and social cognition.

These studies focus on the relational-interdependent self-construals association with implicit or indirect cognitive processes. In the relational-interdependent self-construal, the self is defined largely in terms of close relationships, resulting in variation in self-related processes. In Studies 1 and 2, the relational self-construal was associated with positive implicit evaluations of relational concepts and with tightly organized cognitive networks of relational terms. Studies 3 and 4 demonstrated that this self-construal was associated with memory for and implicit organization of relational information. In Studies 5 and 6, the relational self-construal was positively related to the degree to which participants described themselves and a friend similarly. The implications of the relational self-construal for theories of relationship cognition and for other self-related cognitive processes are discussed.

Getting to Know You: The Relational Self-Construal, Relational Cognition, and Well-Being

Individuals with a highly relational self-construal define the self in terms of their close relationships with others. Consequently, they seek to nurture and develop new relationships. These studies examine individual differences in the self-construal in the context of a new roommate relationship, with a focus on cognitive aspects of relationship development. Study 1 revealed that persons with a highly relational self-construal were better able than others to predict a new roommate’s values and beliefs. Study 2 showed that highly relational individuals tended to think optimistically about a new roommate’s feelings about the relationship. The relational self-construal was more strongly related to these measures of relationship cognition in distant relationships than in very close relationships. Participants’ self-construals and their perceptions of the closeness of the roommate relationship interacted in predicting well-being, revealing an unexpected negative relation between closeness and well-being for participants with a low relational self-construal.

Pursuing goals for us : Relationally autonomous reasons in long-term goal pursuit

People pursue goals for a variety of reasons, including reasons that take into account close relationships (termed relationally autonomous reasons, or RARs). Two longitudinal studies examined the degree to which relational self-construal, RARs, and personally autonomous reasons (PARs) predicted goal attainment. In Study 1, 166 participants rated 7 goals on several goal outcomes at 2 sessions. Results revealed that self-construal was positively associated with RARs and that RARs predicted goal attainment, controlling for PARs. Study 2 (N = 177) added a 3rd follow-up to the Study 1 design, and results showed perceived progress toward ones goals predicted enhanced RARs but not enhanced PARs. Both studies showed that RARs are an effective motivational component in goal pursuit and attainment.

The Interdependent Self-Construal and Social Support: The Case of Persistence in Engineering

This prospective study examined student self-esteem and persistence during the first 2 years of an undergraduate program in engineering. The authors hypothesized that individuals who define the self in terms of close relationships, termed the interdependent self-construal, will experience a sense of misfit in the competitive engineering environment but that high levels of social support will mitigate this effect. As expected, for students with a very interdependent self-construal, levels of social support were positively related to changes in self-esteem during the 1st year and predicted continued enrollment in engineering at the end of the 2nd year, controlling for previous academic performance and self-efficacy. The implications of these findings for understanding the role of the self-construal in behavior and for increasing the supply of well-trained engineers are discussed.