One of the most fundamental ways in which cultural beliefs, practices and ideologies influence psychological processes is in the cognitive schema or self-construal style that people use to think about themselves and their relation to others. In particular, previous anthropological and cultural psychological research illustrates two main styles of ways of thinking about one's self: independent (i.e., individualism) and interdependent (i.e., collectivism). Individuals from independent cultures, such as America, value their autonomy, uniqueness, freedom and right to self-expression, whereas individuals interdependent cultures, such as Japan, value social harmony, conformity and adherence to group norms. Cultural variation in self-construal style has previously been shown to broadly affect cognitive and emotional processes, especially those related to the self. Despite a large body of behavioral evidence demonstrating cultural influences on the self and a growing body of studies on the neurobiological mechanisms of self-relevant processes, very little is known about how culture affects self processes in the brain. The main objective of the proposed activity is to examine how culture affects mental and neural mechanisms underlying the self and social behavior. Using functional neuroimaging (fMRI) in a cross-cultural (e.g., Caucasian-Americans and native Japanese) and bicultural cohort of second-generation Japanese-American immigrants, the current research aims to characterize how different cultural styles of self construal affect self-relevant processes in the brain, particularly within the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC). One primary aim of the current research is to investigate how independent and interdependent selves differentially represent and process self-relevant information in the mind and brain. Another aim is to investigate neural mechanisms underlying the ability of multicultural individuals, possessing both independent and interdependent styles of self-construal, to "switch" between different self-construal styles depending on their sociocultural context. By incorporating cultural psychological theory into social and cognitive neuroscience research, this research project will lay a critical foundation for future research examining how diverse cultural environments influence the self and social behavior at multiple levels of analysis. At the broadest level, this project will integrate education and research by involving Japanese and American scientists at all levels who will gain training and experience in the development of novel cross-cultural neuroimaging techniques and effective international scientific collaboration. The expected findings may benefit society at large by demonstrating how different cultural styles of self-knowledge can lead to diverse, but effective, avenues to social functioning. This interdisciplinary research may have further implications for understanding the role of cultural factors in vulnerability to and prevalence of social and affective disorders involving the self.
