Independent and Interdependent Self-Construals, Individualism, Collectivism, and Harmony Control in African Americans

The authors investigated the relationships among independent and interdependent self-construals (i.e., self-conceptualizations), dimensions of individualism and collectivism, and aspects of harmony control (i.e., the degree to which individuals are flexible in recognizing that their personal power stems from spiritual, social, and contextual forces) in a sample of 240 African American community college students. Results revealed that independent and interdependent self-construals and dimensions of individualism and collectivism were differentially related to various harmony control dimensions. Implications of the findings are discussed.