Understanding stress from a cultural perspective: the role of self-construal

Stress is an adaptive psychophysiological process that plays an important role in human survival and adjustment. Increasing evidence suggests that stress responses are shaped not only by environmental demands but also by cultural and self-related psychological processes. Self-construal, which refers to how individuals define themselves in relation to others, has been widely regarded as an important mechanism linking culture to cognition, emotion, motivation, and behavior. However, its role in stress-related processes has not been systematically synthesized. The current narrative review integrates evidence from cultural psychology, stress research, neuroscience and PTSD literature to assess the impact of self-construal on stress perception, emotional regulation, coping, stress recovery and vulnerability to stress-related disorders. Existing evidence suggests that interdependent self-construal (InterSC) is associated with increased sensitivity to social-evaluative settings, more acute stress reactions, and higher chronic stress levels. Concurrently, InterSC may also assist a faster recovery from stress and better sensitivity to social support in specific cultural circumstances. Evidence on independent self-construal (IndeSC) is relatively scarce, but available findings suggest that autonomy, personal objectives, and self-consistency may serve as relevant stress-related themes among individuals with high IndeSC. Thus, self-construal provides a valuable framework for understanding the ways that culturally molded self-processes influence stress responses, adaptability, and mental health outcomes, and may be useful for developing more culturally sensitive approaches to stress-related therapies.