The self revisited: A multicultural perspective

The present theoretical study revises and critiques the Western individualistic, reified, rationalistic and independent notions of self that pervade writings in traditional psychological theory. Some of the arguments provided discuss the imperative need to abandon such an individualistic approach in approximations to the self.; The study discusses and evaluates the contributions of Post-modern, feminist and cross-cultural research in expanding our current conceptualizations of self. A special emphasis is given to the anthropological, ethnographical, socio-psychological/psychiatric and cultural psychology literature. The author explores the Indian, Japanese and Latino notions of self, as well as individualistic vs. collectivistic and indigenous vs. universalistic ideas, in an effort to understand other ways of approximating the elusive notion of self.; The study argues in favor of a revision of the dominant psychological and ontological premises predominant among Western theorists. It brings into question the idea of a "true" nature of the self, as well as the possibility of finding a unified theory of self. Finally, it briefly discusses the societal and clinical implications of the Western adherence to an individualistic model of self.