The Cultural Psychology of Personality

TLDR

Cultural psychology views the person as a social and collective construction arising from participation in cultural practices, offering insights into contemporary personality controversies. The article argues that while Western psychology sees personality as independent, many Asian cultures construct personality as interdependent. In these cultures, personality is experienced as behavior characteristic of the person in relationship with others within specific social contexts. The article reviews initial evidence and proposes questions for future research.

Abstract

Research in cultural psychology suggests that person is a social and collective construction made possible through an individual's participation in the practices and meanings of a given cultural context. This perspective can make a contribution to some contemporary controversies in personality. In the current article, it is argued that although most conceptions of personality in academic psychology are rooted in a model of the person as independent, in many Asian cultures, personality is constructed on the basis of an alternative model of the person as interdependent. In these cultures, then, personality is experienced and understood as behavior that is characteristic of the person in relationship with others in particular social contexts. Some initial evidence is reviewed and questions for future research are suggested.