Abstract
This paper examined two longitudinal studies, the first of which analyzed responses of 68 participants on an independent and interdependent self-construal scale (Takata et al., 1996) from late childhood through adolescence. The second longitudinal study included 152 participants between late adolescence and young adulthood. These investigations indicated that interdependence decreased between late childhood and early adolescence, increased from early adolescence to middle/late adolescence, and again decreased between late adolescence and young adulthood. Such developmental trends were consistent with those of shown in a cross-sectional study (Takata, 1999), and Structural Equation Model analysis revealed that one's level of interdependence at one developmental stage had positive effects on that during the next stage. Longitudinal independent scores, however, changed neither between late childhood and late adolescence, nor between late adolescence and young adulthood. This was in contrast with the results of a cross-sectional study that revealed a decrease from late childhood to early adolescent, and an increase between late adolescence and young adulthood. In sum, these findings suggest that in Japanese culture interdependent self-construal is actively internalized through the adolescents' reconstruction of self.
