Culture and Control: How Independent and Interdependent Selves Experience Agency and Constraint

Abstract

Personal agency is often considered the hallmark of the independent self. By contrast, interdependent selves are viewed as fitting into groups, adjusting to situations, and minimally asserting themselves. This characterization of the interdependent self as a “non-agent” assumes that personal and group agency are inimical to one another. We propose that group agency does not simply constrain personal agency, it also substitutes for personal agency, coexists with personal agency, and enhances personal agency. Further, we examine how independent selves experience constraint, a similarly underrepresented theme. These arguments introduce more nuanced conceptions of how independent and interdependent selves exercise agency.