The authors first describe individual differences in the structure of the self. In the independent self-construal, representations of others are separate from the self. In the interdependent self-construal, others are considered part of the self (H. Markus & S. Kitayama, 1991). In general, men in the United States are thought to construct and maintain an independent self-construal, whereas women are thought to construct and maintain an interdependent self-construal. The authors review the psychological literature to demonstrate that many gender differences in cognition, motivation, emotion, and social behavior may be explained in terms of men’s and women’s different self-construals. Recognition of the interdependent self-construal as a possible alternative conception of the self may stimulate new investigations into the ways the self influences a person’s thinking, feeling, and behaving.

Many international travelers acquire new and different perspectives on their home country as a result of their journeys. Likewise, cross-cultural comparisons can shed new light on prevailing psychological theories, assumptions, beliefs, and practices in a particular society. For example, cross-cultural comparisons show that the nature and structure of the self is more variable than assumed in contemporary U.S. psychological research. Several investigators (Markus & Kitayama, 1991; Shweder & Bourne, 1984; Triandis, 1989) have argued that individuals in other societies, particularly East Asian societies, construct a self that is much more interdependent or relational than the self constructed by members of individualistic societies, such as in the United States. In East Asian cultures, self-definition is to a large degree based on one’s relationships and group memberships and on the importance of one’s pursuit of harmony with others; this has been termed the interdependent self-construal...