People in different cultures have strikingly different construals of the self, of others, and of the interdependence of the 2. These construals can influence, and in many cases determine, the very nature of individual experience, including cognition, emotion, and motivation. Many Asian cultures have distinct conceptions of individuality that insist on the fundamental relatedness of individuals to each other. The emphasis is on attending to others, fitting in, and harmonious interdependence with them. American culture neither assumes nor values such an overt connectedness among individuals. In contrast, individuals seek to maintain their independence from others by attending to the self and by discovering and expressing their unique inner attributes. As proposed herein, these construals are even more powerful than previously imagined. Theories of the self from both psychology and anthropology are integrated to define in detail the difference between a construal of the self as independent and a construal of the self as interdependent. Each of these divergent construals should have a set of specific consequences for cognition, emotion, and motivation; these consequences are proposed and relevant empirical literature is reviewed. Focusing on differences in self-construals enables apparently inconsistent empirical findings to be reconciled, and raises questions about what have been thought to be culture-free aspects of cognition, emotion, and motivation.

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Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation.

Examines whether the positive association between social support and well-being is attributable more to an overall beneficial effect of support (main- or direct-effect model) or to a process of support protecting persons from potentially adverse effects of stressful events (buffering model). The review of studies is organized according to (1) whether a measure assesses support structure (the existence of relationships) or function (the extent to which one's interpersonal relationships provide particular resources) and (2) the degree of specificity (vs globality) of the scale. Special attention is given to methodological characteristics that are requisite for a fair comparison of the models. It is concluded that there is evidence consistent with both models. Evidence for the buffering model is found when the social support measure assesses the perceived availability of interpersonal resources that are responsive to the needs elicited by stressful events. Evidence for a main effect model is found when the support measure assesses a person's degree of integration in a large social network. Both conceptualizations of social support are correct in some respects, but each represents a different process through which social support may affect well-being. Implications for theories of social support processes and for the design of preventive interventions are discussed.

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Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis.

Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques

In this article the author reviews research evidence on the prevalence of mental disorders in lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals (LGBs) and shows, using meta-analyses, that LGBs have a higher prevalence of mental disorders than heterosexuals. The author offers a conceptual framework for understanding this excess in prevalence of disorder in terms of minority stress— explaining that stigma, prejudice, and discrimination create a hostile and stressful social environment that causes mental health problems. The model describes stress processes, including the experience of prejudice events, expectations of rejection, hiding and concealing, internalized homophobia, and ameliorative coping processes. This conceptual framework is the basis for the review of research evidence, suggestions for future research directions, and exploration of public policy implications. The study of mental health of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) populations has been complicated by the debate on the classification of homosexuality as a mental disorder during the 1960s and early 1970s. That debate posited a gay-affirmative perspective, which sought to declassify homosexuality, against a conservative perspective, which sought to retain the classification of homosexuality as a mental disorder (Bayer, 1981). Although the debate on classification ended in 1973 with the removal of homosexuality from the second edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM; American Psychiatric Association, 1973), its heritage has lasted. This heritage has tainted discussion on mental health of lesbians and gay men by associating— even equating— claims that LGB people have higher prevalences of mental disorders than heterosexual people with the historical antigay stance and the stigmatization of LGB persons (Bailey, 1999). However, a fresh look at the issues should make it clear that whether LGB populations have higher prevalences of mental disorders is unrelated to the classification of homosexuality as a mental disorder. A retrospective analysis would suggest that the attempt to find a scientific answer in that debate rested on flawed logic. The debated scientific question was, Is homosexuality a mental disorder? The operationalized research question that pervaded the debate was, Do homosexuals have high prevalences of mental disorders? But the research did not accurately operationalize the scientific question. The question of whether homosexuality should be considered a mental disorder is a question about classification. It can be answered by debating which behaviors, cognitions, or emotions should be considered indicators of a mental

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Prejudice, social stress, and mental health in lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations: conceptual issues and research evidence

This article explores the possibility that romantic love is an attachment process--a biosocial process by which affectional bonds are formed between adult lovers, just as affectional bonds are formed earlier in life between human infants and their parents. Key components of attachment theory, developed by Bowlby, Ainsworth, and others to explain the development of affectional bonds in infancy, were translated into terms appropriate to adult romantic love. The translation centered on the three major styles of attachment in infancy--secure, avoidant, and anxious/ambivalent--and on the notion that continuity of relationship style is due in part to mental models (Bowlby's "inner working models") of self and social life. These models, and hence a person's attachment style, are seen as determined in part by childhood relationships with parents. Two questionnaire studies indicated that relative prevalence of the three attachment styles is roughly the same in adulthood as in infancy, the three kinds of adults differ predictably in the way they experience romantic love, and attachment style is related in theoretically meaningful ways to mental models of self and social relationships and to relationship experiences with parents. Implications for theories of romantic love are discussed, as are measurement problems and other issues related to future tests of the attachment perspective.

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Romantic Love Conceptualized as an Attachment Process

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The social constructionist movement in modern psychology

CHAPTER 1: SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION - FROM "WHAT IS" TO "WHAT COULD BE" Together We Construct our Worlds The Social Origins of the Real and the Good Grounding Dialogues on Social Construction From Deconstruction to Reconstruction Reflective Pragmatism: The Working Vocabularies of the World CHAPTER 2: CONSTRUCTING THE REAL AND THE GOOD The Language We Live By Everyday Conversation: The Power of the Unremarkable Institutional Realities: Foucault on Power Identity Politics: To Be or Not To Be CHAPTER 3: HORIZONS OF HUMAN ENQUIRY From Empiricism to Constructionism Research Traditions in Transformation Discourse Study: Exploring Constructed Worlds Imagination in Action: Qualitative Enquiry CHAPTER 4: THE RELATIONAL SELF Generative Theory Individualism: Separation and its Discontents Self as Relationship: First Steps Self as Relationship: The Emerging Vision Mind as Relational Action Multi-Being: What Shall We Become Together? CHAPTER 5: DIALOGUE - CONFLICT AND TRANSFORMATION Exploring Dialogue: Key Concepts Dialogue and Difference Toward Transformative Dialogue CHAPTER 6: EDUCATION AS RELATIONAL PROCESS Knowledge as Socially Constructed Education as Relational Process The Challenge of Student Evaluation CHAPTER 7: THE HELPING PROFESSIONS - CO-CONSTRUCTION IN ACTION Therapy as Social Construction Collaborative Means to Human Well-being Meaning and Medicine CHAPTER 8: MAKING MEANING IN ORGANIZATIONS Organizing Through Language Relational Organizing: Key to the Future The Organization as System CHAPTER 9: SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION IN QUESTION Realism: "But there is a World Out There!" The Challenge of Moral Relativism Missing Ingredients: The Body and Power The Challenge of Moral Relativism

An invitation to social construction

* The Self Under Siege * From the Romantic to the Modern Vision of Self * Social Saturation and the Populated Self * Truth in Trouble * The Emergence of Postmodern Culture * From Self to Relationship * A Collage of Postmodern Life * Self-Renewal and Sincerity * Reckoning and Relativity

The Saturated Self Dilemmas of Identity in Contemporary Life

Preface From Individual Knowledge to Communal Construction The Impasse of Individual Knowledge Crisis in Representation and the Emergence of Social Construction Constructionism in Question Social Construction and Moral Orders Criticism and Consequence Social Psychology and the Wrong Revolution The Cultural Consequences of Deficit Discourse Objectivity as Rhetorical Achievement From Self to Relationship Self-Narration in Social Life Emotion as Relationship Transcending Narrative in the Therapeutic Context The Communal Origins of Meaning Deceit: From Conscience to Community Notes References Index

Realities and Relationships: Soundings in Social Construction

An analysis of theory and research in social psychology reveals that while methods of research are scientific in character, theories of social behavior are primarily reflections of contemporary history. The dissemination of psychological knowledge modifies the patterns of behavior upon which the knowledge is based. It does so because of the prescriptive bias of psychological theorizing, the liberating effects of knowledge, and the resistance based on common values of freedom and individuality. In addition, theoretical premises are based primarily on acquired dispositions. As the culture changes, such dispositions are altered, and the premises are often invalidated. Several modifications in the scope and methods of social psychology are derived from this analysis.

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Kenneth J. Gergen

Papers

The social constructionist movement in modern psychology

An invitation to social construction

The Saturated Self Dilemmas of Identity in Contemporary Life

Realities and Relationships: Soundings in Social Construction

Social Psychology as History