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Originalia

Kultur, Selbstkonzept und Kognition

Published Online:April 15, 2015https://doi.org/10.1026//0044-3409.211.4.212

Abstract

Zusammenfassung. Mitglieder individualistischer Kulturen definieren ihr Selbst vor allem als eine autonome, von anderen unabhängige Einheit (independente Selbstkonstruktion). Demgegenüber sehen Mitglieder kollektivistischer Kulturen ihre Identität vorwiegend in ihrer Verbundenheit mit anderen Menschen (interdependente Selbstkonstruktion). Frühere Autoren haben postuliert, dass Personen in Abhängigkeit ihrer Selbstkonstruktion soziale Information unterschiedlich verarbeiten. Auf welche Weise Selbstkonstruktionen das Denken, Fühlen und Handeln von Menschen beeinflussen, war bislang jedoch nur ungenau spezifiziert. Ein Grund hierfür kann darin gesucht werden, dass kausale Annahmen über den Einfluss beider Selbstwissensarten in rein kulturvergleichenden Studien nicht überprüft werden können. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird ein Modell des Selbst dargestellt, das die kulturvergleichende Perspektive und kognitionspsychologische Annahmen über die Dynamik der menschlichen Informationsverarbeitung zu integrieren versucht. Es werden verschiedene Experimente geschildert, die die aus dem Modell ableitbaren Hypothesen überprüfen sollten. Abschließend wird diskutiert, inwieweit das vorgestellte Modell sowohl die kulturvergleichende Forschung als auch die Kognitionspsychologie bereichern kann.


Culture, self-concept and cognition

Abstract. Members of individualist cultures define their selves primarily as an autonomous and independent entity (independent self-construal). In collectivist cultures, identity is more likely defined by stressing the connectedness with others and being interdependent with them (interdependent self-construal). Many previous researchers have suggested that individuals process social information differently, depending on their self-construal. However, the exact mechanisms by which self-knowledge of one kind or the orther influences information processing have hitherto not fully been understood. One possible reason for this deficit is that causal hypotheses about the influence of indpendent and interdependent self-knowledge can not directly be tested in cross-cultural studies. In the present article we, therefore, present a model of the self, which aims at integrating the cross-cultural perspective on the self and a cognitive perspective on the dynamic nature of human information processing. We review empirical evidence for the predictions derived from our model. Finally, possible theoretical contributions for both cross-cultural and cognitive psychology are discussed.

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