Variability of self-concept across personal relationships: The role of culture, basic psychological needs, and authenticity in China, Russia, and the United States

Whether consistency in self-aspects is related positively or negatively to well-being has been the subject of debate among social-cognitive and dynamic psychologists for some time. Recently, cross-cultural researchers have suggested that the magnitude if not direction of the consistency-to-well-being relation may be moderated by culturally influenced self-construals that may be more idiocentric (oriented on the individual) or allocentric (oriented on relationships with others). Self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985; Ryan & Deci, 2000c) suggests that authenticity more than consistency of self-aspects accounts for well-being, that authentic integration and expression of self-aspects is fostered by satisfaction of basic psychological needs within one's relationships, and that these relations should hold in different cultures. Using self-report measures, the present study tests the SDT model among participants in China, Russia, and the United States. Identity inconsistency is conceptualized in the study as variation in Big Five personality traits across different social contexts. Limited support was found for the cultural relativity hypothesis. Identity inconsistency related negatively to authenticity in all three groups. Among Chinese participants, who were more interdependent, inconsistency was unassociated with personal well-being. Among Russians and Americans, who were more independent, inconsistency related negatively to personal well-being. Although inconsistency and relationship quality were unassociated among Russians, they were negatively related among both Americans and Chinese. Despite these differences, satisfaction of basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness was associated in all three countries with variation in traits, authenticity and well-being, and these relations were largely unmoderated by cultural self-construals.