A Multimethod Multitrait Validity Assessment of Self-Construal in Japan, Korea, and the United States

Abstract

A large number of previous studies have used self-construal to predict communication outcomes. Recent evidence, however, suggests that validity problems may exist in self-construal measurement. The current study conducted a multimethod multitrait (Campbell & Fiske, 1959) validation study of self-construal measures with data (total N = 578) collected in Korea (N = 200), Japan (N = 212), and the U.S. (N = 166). The data showed that the Singelis (1994) Self-Construal Scale, the Cross, Bacon, and Morris (2000) Relational Interdependent Self-Construal Scale (RISC), and the Kuhn and McPartland (1954) Twenty Statements Test (TST) lacked convergent and discriminant validity, both pan-culturally and within each of the three countries included in the study. Scores on the TST were not significantly related to scores on the self-construal scales, and the various self-construal measures correlated more highly with measures of communication directness than with alternative measures of the same type of self-construal. Substantial method effects were also observed. The results were tested for both 2-and 3-dimensional models of self-construal and for refined scales and scales with all items retained. The results of all analyses were inconsistent with the claim that selfconstrual measures are construct valid.

Interpersonal leveling, independence, and self‐enhancement: a comparison between Denmark and the US, and a relational practice framework for cultural psychology

“…That is, defining the self by pure 'independent' psychological attributes on the TST, making individual attributions of social life, endorsing autonomous scenario choices, and explicitly endorsing definitions of an independent concept of self are orthogonal aspects of these cultures. These null results replicate the findings of Bresnahan et al (2005) and Grace and Cramer (2003) and underline the need for a more domain-and relationspecific locus of analysis. However, independence-interdependence theory predicts that each of these aspects of independence will be associated with self-enhancement, so we tested for those associations.…”

Opposite Ends of the Same Stick? Multi-Method Test of the Dimensionality of Individualism and Collectivism

“…It has enjoyed unmatched popularity and admiration; yet, the numbers that we so readily use to explain all sorts of cross-cultural phenomena may not adequately represent the underlying theoretical construct IND-COL and may be not much more than just quantitative noise (c.f. Bresnahan et al, 2005;Levine et al, 2003).…”

“…According to meta-analytic reviews by Oyserman et al (2002) and Taras et al (2010), the number of empirical studies that use unidimensional measures of IND-COL (instruments that yield a single IND-COL score) is roughly equal to that of studies that rely on instruments measuring IND-COL as two independent constructs (and yield two separate scores for IND and COL). Further complicating the matter, some of the studies that measured IND and COL separately found near-zero correlations (e.g., Singelis, 1994), negative correlations (e.g., Lam, Chen, & Schaubroeck, 2002), or even positive correlations (e.g., Bresnahan et al, 2005) between IND and COL.…”

Self-Construal and Demographic Variables as Predictors of Blind and Constructive Patriotism in University Students

“…Theoreticians other than Kağıtçıbaşı suggest that the self should be addressed on three different aspects (Bresnahan, Chiu & Levine 2004, Bresnahan et al, 2005, Brewer & Gardner, 1996Hardie, Kashima & Pridmore, 2005;Kashima & Hardie, 2000, Schott & Bellin, 2001Uleman et al, 2000). The triple self-models include a third aspect that is called as relational self, familialism or personal collectivism in addition to the existing aspects of individualism and collectivism.…”