Elaboration of models of the self: Reply to Baumeister and Sommer (1997) and Martin and Ruble (1997).

The authors see little conflict between their description of possible gender differences in self-construals and R. F. Baumeister and L. Sommer's (1997) argument that men and women focus their social interests in divergent spheres. The authors suggest that men's orientation toward a larger social sphere and less intimate relationships than women's allows men to maintain an independent self-construal. In reply to C. M. Martin and D. N. Ruble's {1997) comment, the authors clarify the nature of the self-construal, caution against cross-cultural application of these models, and suggest possible roles of the self and situations in the direction of behavior.