Jamadi,
Maia (12/09) Does self-construal impact awareness of emotion in others? (Philip
Wong, Ph.D.; Howard McGuire, Ph.D.; Nicholas Papouchis, Ph.D.)
Self-construal refers to the extent to
which the self is viewed as separate from or connected to the other. The
standard conceptualization of self-construal consists of two
categories--independent and interdependent . An independent self-construal
places primary importance on attending to the self, maintaining independence,
and emphasizing one's unique attributes. An interdependent self-construal aims
to maintain harmonious relationships and places primary importance on attending
to others and fitting in. It has been suggested that interdependents have a
heightened awareness of others. This notion was examined in the current study
by interpreting heightened awareness as increased awareness of emotion in
others. Perceptual awareness ( sensitivity ) of four emotions (angry, fear,
happy, and sad) and metacognitive awareness (emotional awareness ) of emotional
states were examined. In using Singelis' (1994) Self-Construal Scale (SCS) to
measure self-construal, no significant findings were demonstrated when it was
treated as the standard two-factor construct. Self-construal was also treated
as a multidimensional construct and a principal components analysis revealed
two independent (Behavioral Individualism and Primacy of Self) and two
interdependent (Deference/Harmony and Primacy of Other) factors. Results indicated
that as scores on Deference/Harmony increased, sensitivity to Anger, Happy, and
Sad significantly decreased and as scores on Primacy of Other increased,
sensitivity to Angry and Fear significantly increased. There were no
significant relationships between sensitivity and the independent factors of
self-construal. There were no significant findings in examining self-construal
and emotional awareness. Results provided support for the impact of
self-construal on sensitivity to facial expressions of emotion and the utility
of treating self-construal as a multidimensional construct.
