Naïve dialecticism refers to a set of East Asian lay beliefs characterized by tolerance for contradiction, the expectation of change, and cognitive holism. In five studies, the authors examined the cognitive mechanisms that give rise to global self-concept inconsistency among dialectical cultures. Contradictory self-knowledge was more readily available (Study 1) and simultaneously accessible (Study 2) among East Asians (Japanese and Chinese) than among Euro-Americans. East Asians also exhibited greater change and holism in the spontaneous self-concept (Study 1) and inconsistency in their implicit self-beliefs (Study 3). Cultural differences in self-concept inconsistency were obtained when controlling for alternative explanatory variables, including self-criticism (Study 4) and self-concept certainty (Studies 2 and 3) and were fully mediated by a direct measure of dialecticism (Study 5). Naïve dialecticism provides a comprehensive theoretical framework for understanding these cultural differences and the contradictory, changeable, and holistic nature of the East Asian self-concept.

Julie Spencer-Rodgers

Helen C. Boucher

Sumi C. Mori

None Lei Wang

None Kaiping Peng

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

Pers Soc Psychol Bull

The Dialectical Self-Concept: Contradiction, Change, and Holism in East Asian Cultures

Naïve dialecticism provides a comprehensive theoretical framework for understanding cultural differences and the contradictory, changeable, and holistic nature of the East Asian self-concept.

Category	Quartile
心理学	2
心理学, 心理学社会	2

The Dialectical Self-Concept: Contradiction, Change, and Holism in East Asian Cultures

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Journal Info

Category	Quartile
PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIAL	1