ABSTRACT
It has been useful to consider the independence and interdependence constructs in general terms, with independence referring to aspects of human functioning and experience that involve being a mentally and physically separate or distinct individual, and interdependence referring to aspects of human functioning and experience that involve connections among people. The issue before us now is to elaborate on these general definitions with a conceptualization that addresses how, more specifically, independence and interdependence are particularized in cultural contexts of development. In brief, the conceptual approach presented in this chapter is based on the following two assumptions about human functioning: (a) Human functioning universally involves dimensions of both independence and interdependence because people everywhere are physically and mentally separate and also socially connected, and (b) human functioning is cultural. The conceptual position is further based on a synthesis of three theoretical approaches to human behavior and development; namely, systems theory (e.g., Ford & Lerner, 1992; Gottlieb, 1991; Gottlieb, Wahlsten, & Lickliter, 1998; von Bertalanffy, 1968, 1969), organismic developmental theory (Kaplan, 1967; Werner & Kaplan, 1963/1984), and sociocultural theory (e.g., Cole, 1996; Miller & Goodnow, 1995; Rogoff, 2003; Ugiris, 1989, 1996; Valsiner, 1997; Wertsch, 1998).
