The Self across Cultures

What is the self? The self is a concept that we believe of ourselves. It is how we as a person behave, our personality, our unique characteristics, our actions, why we do what we do, etc. It is how we identify with ourselves. How does this unique concept develop differently among people? Why are some people different from others? One context of the self is the innate, or the pre-determined temperament that we are born with. We are all born with some pre-determined personality. For example, you probably have noticed that not all newborns are the same. I have personally experienced this where my nephew as a newborn would cry and be agitated much more then my niece, who was calm and slept a lot. These are just innate characteristics. Although we are born with some aspect of a temperament or personality there are also cultural factors that come into play. Culture molds us into unique individuals and plays a huge role on how we act, behave and respond. Some cultures may be individualist or collectivists and this in turn plays a role on whether a person is said to be independent or interdependent, a trait that is said to be of the self. Those who are interdependent have a lot of flexibility in their characteristics and can change according to who they are interacting with. The relationship with others (one who is interdependent) is a big characteristic of their life, therefore they depend a lot on the relationships of others so they can adapt and accommodate themselves. For example, someone who identifies themselves as an independent person does not really depend on the relationships of others so there is no need to change their personalities. They remain the same person when interacting with different people. An interdependent person on the other hand does depend on relationships, therefore they will change their personality if they were interacting with say their mom, then their friend, then a leader, or their child. Since independence and interdependence are highly related to individualistic and collectivist cultures it can then be said that culture does impact ‘the self’, it is not just an inborn trait that is pre-determined for us.