Self-concept consistency and short-term stability were investigated in the United States, Australia, Mexico, Venezuela, Philippines, Malaysia, China, and Japan. Evidence for substantial cross-role consistency and reliable within-individual variability in trait self-perceptions were found in each culture. Participants in all cultures exhibited short-term stability in their selfreported traits within roles and moderately stable if-then patterns of trait self-perceptions.Cultural differences, which primarily involved Japan, were partially accounted for by cultural differences in dialecticism, but not self-construals or cultural tightness. In all cultures, satisfaction of needs in various roles partially accounted for within-individual variability in selfreported traits. The results provide support for integrating trait and cultural psychology perspectives, as well as structure and process approaches, in the study of self-concepts across cultures.Keywords: culture; self-concept; consistency; within-individual variability; self-construals; dialecticism; tightness-looseness SELF-CONCEPT CONSISTENCY IN EIGHT CULTURES 3 IntroductionWestern theorists have long contended that a consistent self-concept is important for adjustment and a clear sense of identity (Jahoda, 1958;Jourard, 1965;Maslow, 1954). For example, in Erikson's (1950) theory, healthy mastery of the identity versus role diffusion stage of development involves self-perceptions of inner sameness and continuity. Similarly, Jourard (1965) argued that a psychologically healthy individual retains a consistent self-view across social roles. Consistent with these theories, studies in American samples have linked self-concept inconsistency to a variety of unhealthy outcomes, including anxiety, depression, lower selfesteem, and lower life satisfaction (Campbell, Assanand, & Di Paula, 2003;Donahue, Robins, Roberts, & John, 1993;Sheldon, Ryan, Rawsthorne, & Ilardi, 1997). Researchers who have investigated self-concept consistency across cultures have generally done so by quantifying the amount of variability in participants' ratings of their personality traits across various roles or relationships. In the present study, we extended this research by investigating the cross-role consistency and short-term stability of trait self-SELF-CONCEPT CONSISTENCY IN EIGHT CULTURES 4 perceptions in eight diverse cultures. In formulating hypotheses about cultural differences in consistency it is useful to consider both trait and cultural psychology perspectives. Trait and cultural psychology perspectives on consistencyFrom trait psychology, we anticipate that people in all cultures exhibit a degree of consistency in how they describe their traits in various roles (Church, 2000;Funder & Colvin, 1991;Oishi, Diener, Scollon, & Biswas-Diener, 2004). In this view, heritable traits contribute to a degree of behavioral consistency in all cultures, which, in turn, leads to some consistency in self-perceptions of one's traits in various roles (Funder, 1995;Wood & Roberts, 2006). Fr...

The Trauma and Attachment Belief Scale (TABS; Pearlman, 2003) was developed to evaluate levels of cognitive schema disruption in 5 areas (safety, trust, intimacy, control, and esteem) identified by constructivist self-development theory as being sensitive to the effects of trauma. Although the TABS has been used to assess the effects of trauma in various populations commonly exposed to traumatic experiences, it has yet to be applied to a sample of partners of military service members, a population past research has identified as being exposed to secondary trauma related to partner military deployment. The current study evaluated the factor structure of the TABS with a sample of partners of service members. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted on TABS data completed by a sample of 376 marital and nonmarital partners of service members. A 4-factor model that accounted for 37.32% of the total variance was found with the following factors represented: Other, Other-Safety, Self-Safety, and Self. This factor structure differs from the 10-and 3-factor models found in past literature (Pearlman, 2003;Varra, Pearlman, Brock, & Hodgson, 2008), and may reflect concerns that are unique to partners of service members specifically related to other-safety and self-safety. These findings support the use of the TABS with partners of service members. Information related to levels of cognitive schema disruption gained from the TABS can provide clinicians working with partners of service members with information to aid in effective implementation of empirically validated cognitive behavioral therapy and cognitive processing therapy treatments.