In many non-western societies such as India, Japan, and Iran with strong hierarchical and group contextual relationships, the self is not fully individuated or unified as it is purported to be in the West, particularly in the United States.1 Instead, in these countries, the self is thought to be familial and communal, involving one's family and community. This produces an apparent contradiction between an inner 'core' or private self and an outer 'shell' or public…
