Kochubeynyk O. Transformation of ideas of self-concept in cross-cultural psychological researches

The author considers the development of idea of self-concept both in the area of general psychology and in cross-cultural context. She treats theoretical problems of to-day stage of cross-cultural psychological research and analyses the causes which led to using Western methodologies in the studies performed on non-Western cultural ground. The main attention is paid to "convergent" and "divergent" strategies of self-concept consideration in cross-cultural physiological research. According to the first one, the same schema of the self is used for explaining of culture effects, values of parameters of this schema varying in different cultures. According to the second strategy, people in different cultures have strikingly different construals of the self and its interdependence with other people. These construals can influence, and in many cases determine, the very nature of individual experience, including cognition, emotion, and motivation. Particularly Asian cultures usually insist on the fundamental role harmonious interdependence among individuals. In contrast, European cultures individual is the main value. Five stages of the process of the transformation of ideas of self-concept are shown.