Fundamental Questions in Cross-Cultural Psychology: Self, family and culture: what is common, what changes?

This chapter basically purports a universalistic view, built upon basic human needs, albeit displaying cultural variations in their manifestations. This chapter also concerns two of the four fundamental questions the editors of this volume, van de Vijver, Chasiotis and Breugelmans, pose in the first chapter: primarily ‘how does culture become ingrained in human development?’ and secondarily ‘what is the relationship between individual and culture?’ Finally, it also touches upon their question about the profundity of cross-cultural differences in psychological functioning. I aim to look for answers to these questions in the light of the theoretical framework I have developed in the last two decades regarding the self, the family and their interface with culture. On the one hand I will describe the Self Theory and Family Change Theory, which are interrelated, and on the other hand, I will discuss their implications for cross-cultural theorising in general. In particular, I discuss the emergence and the significance of the autonomous-related self as a key construct in the search for answers to these fundamental questions. The interface between culture and self is a nebulous topic. Any treatment of it is necessarily selective, as is true of this chapter also. There have been many attempts at addressing the complex issues involved (Kagitcibasi and Poortinga, 2000; Poortinga, 1992, 1997; Poortinga et al ., 1987).