Individual Self, Relational Self, Collective Self

Book excerpt: This edited volume addresses key issues relating to the concept of self, an increasingly researched area of social psychology. The self-concept consists of three fundamental self-representations: the individual self, the relational self, and the collective self. That is, people seek to achieve self-definition and self-interpretation (i.e. identity) in three fundamental ways: in terms of their personal traits, in terms of dyadic relationships, and in terms of group membership. Contributions from leading international researchers examine the interrelations among three self-representations. A concluding commentary identifies running themes, synthesizes the extant literature, and points to future research directions.