Includes bibliographical references (p. 191-216) and index.

Machine generated contents note: I: INTRODUCTION 1 1. "Who Am I?" Cu ltural Variations in Self-Systems 7 Evolution of Western Self-Construct ion: "America's Civil Religion" 10 Interdependent Self-Construals: An A lternative Framework 13 2. Independent and Interdependent Models of the Self as Cultural Frame 15 Independent Self-Construal: Individualistic Aspects of Self 16 Interdependent Self-Construal: Group-Derived Identit y 17 3. Why Self-Construals Are Useful 21 Parsimony of Explanation: Imp act of Culture 22 Cultural Relativity of Communication Constructs 24 II : U.S.-CENTRISM: CULTURAL RELATIVITY OF COMMUNICATION CONSTRUCTS AND TH EORIES 27 4. Communication Apprehension: Deficiency or Politeness? 31 M otivation to Avoid Verbal Communication 33 Traditional View: Communicat ion Avoidance as a Deficiency 38 Communication Avoidance Stemming From a Sensitivity to Social Contexts 39 Implications 41 5. Motivation to Ap proach Verbal Communication: Is Communication Approach Always Healthy? 45 Assertiveness: Standing Up for Your Own Rights 45 Argumentativeness: A Subset of Assertiveness 48 Critique and Summary 51 6. Conflict Manag ement Styles: Is Avoidance Really a Lose-Lose? 57 Prior Conflict Manage ment Typologies 58 Individualistic Bias in Past Conceptualizations of C onflict Styles 60 7. Cognitive Consistency: A Cultural Assumption? 69 F undamental Assumptions of Cognitive Dissonance Theory 70 Is Cognitive D issonance a Culture-Bound Concept? 72 8. Attitude-Behavior Consistency: Cultural Ideal of Individualistic Society? 77 Predicting Behaviors: De -Emphasizing Situations Over Attitudes 83 Emphasizing Other Sources of Behavior 86 9. Susceptibility to Social Influence: Conformity or Tact? 89 An Eco-Cultural Explanation of Conformity 91 Conformity as Social Se nsitivity and Independence as Insensitivity 93 10. Internal Control Ide ology and Interpersonal Communication 99 Internal Control Ideology 101 Relationship Between Locus of Control and Communication Ideology 104 11 . Deceptive Communication: Moral Choice or Social Necessity? 109 Decept ion as a Moral Issue: Independent Perspective 111 Deception as a Social Necessity: Interdependent Perspective 114 12. Self-Disclosure: Braggin g vs. Negative Self-Disclosure 121 Motivational Influences on Styles of Self-Disclosure 122 Gender and the Preferred Forms of Self-Presentatio n 128 13. Silence: Is It Really Golden? 131 Silence as Malfunctioning o f (Human) Machines 132 Silence as Neglected Component of Human Communic ation 134 14. Models of Acculturative Communication Competence: Who Bea rs the Burden of Adaptation? 141 Assimilation Model: "Marginal Man [sic ]" Perspective 144 Alternation Model: Bicultural Person Perspective 147 Host Communication Competence: One-Way Assimilation 149 Bicultural Com munication Competence: A Fluid Cultural Alternation 151 III: TOWARD A B IDIMENSIONAL MODEL OF CULTURAL IDENTITY 155 15. The Sources of Dualism: Mechanistic Cartesian Worldview 159 Bias Toward Yang Communication Beh aviors 162 Particle/Wave Paradox: Some preliminary Implications of Pers onhood for Human Communication 164 16. Dimensionality of Cultural Ident ity 167 Unidimensional Model of Self-Construals 167 Bidimensional Model of Cultural Identity 168 Support for the Bidimensional Model 169 Forma tion of Bicultural Identity 175 IV: CONCLUSION 179 17. Into the Future: Implications for Future Inquiry 183 Ideology and Beyond 183 Reclaiming Cultural Relevance of Communication Theories 185.