Since the publication of Markus and Kitayama's pivotal article on culture and the self, the concepts of independent, relational, and interdependent self-construal have become important constructs in cultural psychology and research on the self. The authors review the history of these constructs, their measurement and manipulation, and their roles in cognition, emotion, motivation, and social behavior. They make suggestions for future research and point to problems still to be sorted out. Researchers interested in these constructs have many opportunities to make important contributions to the literature in a variety of fields, including health psychology, education, counseling, and international relations.

Research evidence and theoretical accounts of honor point to differing definitions of the construct in differing cultural contexts. The current studies address the question "What is honor?" using a prototype approach in Turkey and the Northern United States. Studies 1a/1b revealed substantial differences in the specific features generated by members of the two groups, but Studies 2 and 3 revealed cultural similarities in the underlying dimensions of self-respect, moral behavior, and social status/respect. Ratings of the centrality and personal importance of these factors were similar across the two groups, but their association with other relevant constructs differed. The tripartite nature of honor uncovered in these studies helps observers and researchers alike understand how diverse responses to situations can be attributed to honor. Inclusion of a prototype analysis into the literature on honor cultures can provide enhanced coverage of the concept that may lead to testable hypotheses and new theoretical developments. © 2013 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc

We tested the hypotheses that Turkish and (Northern) American cultures afford different honor-relevant situations and different responses to these situations. In Study 1, we found that honor-attacking situations generated by American participants focused more on the individual than did situations generated by Turkish participants, whereas situations generated by Turkish participants focused more on close others and involved more references to an audience than did situations generated by American participants. Moreover, the situations most frequently generated by both groups tended to also differ in nature. In Study 2, new participants evaluated these situations for their impact on the self, close others, and acquaintances" feelings about their family. Turkish participants tended to evaluate situations as having greater impact on all targets than did American participants. Turkish participants also evaluated all situations to have a similar impact on their own feelings and close others" feelings about themselves, whereas Americans evaluated the situations to have more extreme impact on their own feelings than on the feelings of close others. Situations generated by Turkish participants were evaluated to have stronger impact on all targets. What Is Honor?Honor was initially studied by anthropologists in Middle Eastern, North African and Mediterranean cultures. Later, primarily social psychological work in Western parts of the world (e.g., Rodriguez Mosquera, Manstead, & Fisher, 2000, 2002a, 2002b demonstrated that the experience of honor is not limited to the Mediterranean and surrounding regions; honor is a concept woven within the Western heritage which plays an important role in shaping human psychology (Gregg, 2007). There are, however, distinct differences in the meaning and salience of honor in these two cultural worlds. In Western 4 cultural contexts, honor is generally defined as "strong moral character or strength, and adherence to ethical principles" (Encarta Dictionary). This definition focuses on the individual alone as the source of honor and defines honor as primarily a property of the individual. Although present, honor is not a very salient feature of everyday psychological experiences of members of Western societies (with the exception of Southern US, see e.g., Cohen, Nisbett, Bowdle, & Schwarz, 1996;.In contrast, honor in circum-Mediterranean regions is viewed more complexly and is typically defined as positive moral standing and pride that is related to one"s own perception of worth and to other people"s respect (Peristiany, 1965). In these contexts, honor is a value deeply ingrained in individuals" social worlds to the extent that "…people automatically respond to events and build reputations, personalities, or selves in its [honor"s] terms" (Gregg, 2007, p. 92).Societies where honor is a salient concept which directs much of people"s behavior have been termed honor cultures. In such cultures, prestige and respect are hard to gain and easy to lose; people therefore engage in a varie...

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Two studies investigated retaliatory responses to actual honor threats among members of an honor culture (Turkey) and a dignity culture (northern United States). The honor threat in these studies was based on previous research which has shown that honesty is a key element of the conception of honor and that accusations of dishonesty are threatening to one's honor. In both studies, participants wrote an essay describing the role of honesty in their lives and received feedback on their essay accusing them of being dishonest (vs. neutral feedback). Turkish participants retaliated more strongly than did northern U.S. participants against the person who challenged their honesty by assigning him/her to solve more difficult tangrams over easy ones (Study 1) and by choosing sensory tasks of a higher level of intensity to complete (Study 2). Study 2 added a relational honor condition, in which participants wrote about honesty in their parents' lives and examined the role of individual differences in honor values in retaliation. Endorsement of honor values significantly predicted retaliation among Turkish participants in the relational honor attack condition, but not among northern U.S. participants.