Abstract
Three experiments were conducted trying to examine the self-assessment theory (Trope, 1983) in Japan. As self-assessment motivation seems to be derived from the independent construal of the self (Markus & Kitayama, 1991), it was hypothesized that the motivation will be suppressed by theinterdependent construal of the self which is ubiquitous in Japanese culture. Experiment 1 replicated self-assessment behavior, using the same manipulations as in the previous studies where the subjects felt almost no concern about interpersonal relationships. In Experiment 2, it was demonstrated that subjects displaying a high level of interdependency did not show self-assessment behavior in the conditions where interpersonal concerns were activated. On the other hand, the results in Experiment 3 did not reveal such suppression of self-assessment in the case of subjects who lacked the independent or interdependent construal of the self. These results suggested that Japanese subjects tend to inhibit their self-assessment motivation in favor of self-devaluation process.
