Being oneself through time: Bases of self-continuity across 55 cultures*. Issue 3 (4th May 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Becker, Maja; Vignoles, Vivian L.; Owe, Ellinor; Easterbrook, Matthew J.; Brown, Rupert; Smith, Peter B.; Abuhamdeh, Sami; Cendales Ayala, Boris; Garðarsdóttir, Ragna B.; Torres, Ana; Camino, Leoncio; Bond, Michael Harris; Nizharadze, George; Amponsah, Benjamin; Schweiger Gallo, Inge; Prieto Gil, Paula; Lorente Clemares, Raquel; Campara, Gabriella; Espinosa, Agustín; Yuki, Masaki; Zhang, Xiao; Zhang, Jianxin; Zinkeng, Martina; Villamar, Juan A.; Kusdil, Ersin; Çağlar, Selinay; Regalia, Camillo; Manzi, Claudia; Brambilla, Maria; Bourguignon, David; Möller, Bettina; Fülöp, Márta; Macapagal, Ma. Elizabeth J.; Pyszczynski, Tom; Chobthamkit, Phatthanakit; Gausel, Nicolay; Kesebir, Pelin; Herman, Ginette; Courtois, Marie; Harb, Charles; Jalal, Baland; Tatarko, Alexander; Aldhafri, Said; Kreuzbauer, Robert; Koller, Silvia H.; Mekonnen, Kassahun Habtamu; Fischer, Ronald; Milfont, Taciano L.; Des Rosiers, Sabrina E.; Jaafar, Jas Laile; Martin, Mariana; Baguma, Peter; Lv, Shaobo; Schwartz, Seth J.; Gavreliuc, Alin; Fritsche, Immo; González, Roberto; Didier, Nicolas; Carrasco, Diego; Lay, Siugmin;
• Is Part Of: Self and identity. Volume 17:Issue 3(2018)
• Page Start: 276
• Page End: 293
• Publication Date: 2018-05-04
• Subjects: Identity -- culture -- self-continuity -- mutability -- personhood beliefs -- mindset; Self -- Periodicals; Identity (Psychology) -- Periodicals; Cognition -- Periodicals; Motivation (Psychology) -- Periodicals; 155.205
• DOI: 10.1080/15298868.2017.1330222
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1529-8868

Abstract

Abstract: Self-continuity – the sense that one's past, present, and future are meaningfully connected – is considered a defining feature of personal identity. However, bases of self-continuity may depend on cultural beliefs about personhood. In multilevel analyses of data from 7287 adults from 55 cultural groups in 33 nations, we tested a new tripartite theoretical model of bases of self-continuity. As expected, perceptions of stability, sense of narrative, and associative links to one's past each contributed to predicting the extent to which people derived a sense of self-continuity from different aspects of their identities. Ways of constructing self-continuity were moderated by cultural and individual differences in mutable (vs. immutable) personhood beliefs – the belief that human attributes are malleable. Individuals with lower mutability beliefs based self-continuity more on stability; members of cultures where mutability beliefs were higher based self-continuity more on narrative. Bases of self-continuity were also moderated by cultural variation in contextualized (vs. decontextualized) personhood beliefs, indicating a link to cultural individualism-collectivism. Our results illustrate the cultural flexibility of the motive for self-continuity.