The Self and Social Behavior in Differing Cultural Contexts Harry C. Triandis University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Three aspects of the self (private, public, collective) with different probabilities in different kinds of social environments were sampled. Three dimensions of cultural variation (individualism-collectiv- ism, tightness-looseness, cultural complexity) are discussed in relation to the sampling of these three aspects of the self. The more complex the culture, the more frequent the sampling of the public and private self and the less frequent the sampling of the collective self. The more individualistic the culture, the more frequent the sampling of the private self and the less frequent the sampling of the collective self. Collectivism, external threat, competition with outgroups, and common fate increase the sampling of the collective self. Cultural homogeneity results in tightness and in the sampling of the collective self. The article outlines theoretical links among aspects of the environment, child- rearing patterns, and cultural patterns, which are linked to differential sampling of aspects of the self. Such sampling has implications for social behavior. Empirical investigations of some of these links are reviewed. The study of the selff has a long tradition in psychology (e.g., Allport, 1943, 1955; Baumeister, 1987; Gordon & Gergen, 1968; James, 1890/1950; Murphy, 1947; Schlenker, 1985; Smith, 1980; Ziller, 1973), anthropology (e.g., Shweder & Le- Vine, 1984), and sociology (e.g., Cooley, 1902; Mead, 1934; Ro- senberg, 1979). There is a recognition in most of these discus- sions that the self is shaped, in part, through interaction with groups. However, although there is evidence about variations of the self across cultures (Marsella, De Vos, & Hsu, 1985; Shweder & Levine, 1984), the specification of the way the self determines aspects of social behavior in different cultures is undeveloped. This article will examine first, aspects of the self; second, di- mensions of variation of cultural contexts that have direct rele- vance to the way the self is defined; and third, the link between culture and self. have implications for the way people sample information (sam- pling information that is self-relevant more frequently than in- formation that is not self-relevant), the way they process infor- mation (sampling more quickly information that is self-relevant than information that is not self-relevant), and the way they as- sess information (assessing more positively information that supports their current self-structure than information that challenges their self-structure). Thus, for instance, a self-in- struction such as "I must do X" is more likely to be evaluated positively, and therefore accepted, if it maintains the current self-structure than if it changes this structure. This has implica- tions for behavior because such self-instructions are among the several processes that lead to behavior (Triandis, 1977, 1980). In other words, the self is an active agent that promotes differential sampling, processing, and evaluation of informa- tion from the environment, and thus leads to differences in so- cial behavior. Empirical evidence about the link of measures of the self to behavior is too abundant to review here. A sample will suffice: People whose self-concept was manipulated so that they thought of themselves (a) as "charitable" gave more to charity (Kraut, 1973), (b) as "neat and tidy" threw less garbage on the floor (Miller, Brickman, & Bolen, 1975), and (c) as "hon- est" were more likely to return a pencil (Shotland & Berger, 1970). Self-definition results in behaviors consistent with that definition (Wicklund & Gollwitzer, 1982). People who defined themselves as doers of a particular behavior were more likely to do that behavior (Greenwald, Carnot, Beach, & Young, 1987). Identity salience leads to behaviors consistent with that identity (Stryker & Serpe (1982). Self-monitoring (Snyder, 1974) has been linked to numerous behaviors (e.g., Snyder, 1987; Snyder, Simpson, & Gangestad, 1986). The more an attitude (an aspect of the self) is accessible to memory, the more likely it is to deter- mine behavior (Fazio & Williams, 1986). Those with high self- esteem were found to be more likely to behave independently of group norms (Ziller, 1973). As Snyder (1987) has shown, the differences between those who do more sampling of social situations (high self-monitors) and those who do more sampling of the self (low self-monitors) Definitions The Self For purposes of this article, the self consists of all statements made by a person, overtly or covertly, that include the words "I," "me," "mine," and "myself" (Cooley, 1902). This broad definition indicates that all aspects of social motivation are linked to the self. Attitudes (e.g., I like X), beliefs (e.g., I think that X results in Y), intentions (e.g., I plan to do X), norms (c.g., in my group, people should act this way), roles (e.g., in my family, fathers act this way), and values (e.g., I think equality is very important) are aspects of the self. The statements that people make, that constitute the self, C. Harry Hui and J. B. P. Sinha made important suggestions that helped in the development of the theoretical argument presented here. Helpful comments on an earlier version of the article were made by R. Bontempo, R. Brislin, J. Georgas, S. Lobel, G. Marin, and C. Scott. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Harry C. Triandis, Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, 603 East Daniel Street, Champaign, Illinois 61820. 506