Self-Construals and Communication Apprehension

Recently, Kim, Tasaki, Kim, and Lee's findings on independent and interdependent self-construals showed support in a different direction. Basically, a self-construal is conceptualized as how individuals see the relationship of their self to others or their self as at a distance from others. According to Markus and Kitayama, there are two types of self-construals: independent and interdependent. An independent self-construal is a unique entity that emphasizes a person's own internal thoughts and feelings. An interdependent self-construal is defined as an entity that is closely intertwined with others and that is responsive to, and dependent on, the thoughts, feelings,and actions of others.

Researchers report that individuals' self-construals are shaped by cultural influences. Independent self-construals are representative of individualistic cultures, while interdependent self-construalsare representative of collectivistic cultures. Hence, US Americans have independent self-construals and Koreans have interdependent self-construals. Kim, Tasaki, et al.'s findings show that the higher one's independent self-construal, the less likely one is to be apprehensive and the higher one's interdependent self-construal, the more likely one is to be apprehensive. Taking the above findings together, the following hypothesis is posed:

H3: Korean citizens are more likely to be communicatively apprehensive than their US American counterparts.

Back to '4.2: Understanding People from Different Cultures'