Research focus Cross-cultural differences in self-construals and Narration Self in Mind in Culture Characteristics of Self-construals and Autobiographical Memories in different Socio-cultural Contexts in Norwegians Knut Arild Gulbrandsen, Supervisors: Tia Hansen, Manuel de la Mata Introduction M&K (1991) points out that what have been describe as universal within psychology is a description of middle class individualistic oriented Americans. This was investigated by cross cultural research on Americans and Japanese. “In Western cultures, the Self is viewed as an autonomous, independent and separate being defined by a unique repertoire of attributes, abilities, thoughts and feelings.” “In Eastern cultures, the Self is viewed as interdependent with others and experienced as part of a social web.” This becomes a starting point for a huge amount of cross- cultural research within psychology. References: de la Mata Benítez, Santamaría Santigosa, Hansen, Ruiz-Ramos & Ruiz (2008, September). Culture, autobiographical memory and self. Formal schooling as a sociocultural activity. 2. Conference of the International Society for Cultural and Activity Research, San Diego, California, USA. Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review, 98 (2), Wang, Q. (2001). Culture effects on adult’s earliest childhood recollection and self-description: implications for the relation between memory and the self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81(2), Wang, Q. (2004). The Emergence of Cultural Self-Constructs: Autobiographical Memory and Self-Description in European American and Chinese Children. Developmental Psychology 40 (1), Self-construals in Denmark, Spain & Mexico (EMS) Manuel de la Mata group (in press) Differences between Americans and Chinese college students in their earliest memories (Wang, 2001): Culture & AM. Self-Construal American students  Earlier (6 months).  Lengthy  Specific  Self-focused  Emotionally elaborate Chinese students  Later (6 months).  Shorter  General  Others-focused  Emotionally less elaborate Accessibility of independent versus interdependent aspects of self vary between Asian and Western cultures (Markus & Kitayama). This is reflected in a person’s autobiographical memories (Qi Wang), i.e. ’the database of their self’ (Martin Conway). Parental discourse is a cultural-individual level mediator that also varies with gender (Robyn Fivush). Thus, a personal autobiography entails a narration of self (Jerome Bruner) that solves the universal task of identity- making in ways moderated by culture and gender. Studies about self-construal in Denmark, Spain and Mexico show some differences between these countries in terms of individualism vs. collectivism: (Hofstede, 1984, 2001, 2003; Oyserman, Coon & Kemmelmeier, 2002) Denmark Spain Mexico IndividualismCollectivism Independent self Interdependent self Self-construals and formal schooling Individuals appropriate their culture’s tools for thinking through formal schooling (Vygotsky); the emphasis on abstract reflection in Western formal schooling may further accessibility of independent (context-free) over interdependent aspects of self (la Mata). Also, societies are not homogenous; diversity is found along dimensions such as ethnicity, territory, religious, historical, or cultural background, etc. RQ RQ1: Do autobiographical memories vary according to the independent- interdependent dimension in cultures less different than Asian vs Western? RQ2: Within an individual, do autobiographical memories from school, family, and peer contexts vary on indicators of independency vs. interdependency? RQ3: Within a society, do participants from identifiably different groups vary on these indicators? 60 people coming from Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, México). Gender: 30 males and 30 females Schooling experience: 20 (literacy level), 20 (basic level), 20 (university level) Manuel de la Mata Group (in press) Schooling experience: χ 2 =9.448; df =2; p =.009 Differences in Self-construals and AM in different Socio-cultural Contexts (Norwegian study) Aims Replication of the EMS project (RQ1) Extension: Variations in AM in different socio- cultural contexts (RQ2)(Pilot) Future projects: research on differences in different ethnical groups within Norway.(RQ3) Method I Research material/instrument: Written questionnaire TST First memory Memory from school Memory with family Memory with friends Questions: Age, emotions, prior recollections Demographic data: sex, age, date and place of birth, residence, no. of siblings and religion Method II Coding of memories: Narrative (Smorti (2004), de la Mata, T. Hansen & Gulbrandsen (2008) First step: The memories are broken down into (meaning) units Second:Memories are categorized self/other Third: The units are categorizes by the activity (verbs) in the unit Autobiographical memory Self Construal CULTURE Socio-cultural contexts Wang (2001, 2004), de la Mata (2008)