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

Abstract

Cross-cultural research over the past two decades has shown very important differences in self-construal. However, the comparison of a wider range of cultures is needed to further understanding into this relationship. In contrast to Markus and Kitayama’s distinction between independent and interdependent self-construal, authors such as Matsumoto, Kagitçibasi, and Oyserman and colleagues have defended a more complex, multidimensional, and situated perspective on self-construal. Recent studies using the Twenty Statement Test (TST) as a measure of self-construal have supported this multidimensional view of the construct. The current study explored 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 unexpected cultural differences in self-construal. Danish participants referred proportionally less to private and personal attributes and qualities than their Mexican and Spanish participants, and they made more references to interdependence and responsiveness to other. Results do not fit with some basic assumptions of Markus and Kitayama’s theory and give support to the view of self-construal as multidimensional and with variations associated with personal and situational factors.