Generally, coding schemes try to determine whether we use independent or interdependent self-construals to describe ourselves.
Kuhn and McPartland (1954) proposed to code each statement as subconsensual (I am generous) or consensual (I am a husband).
Triandis (1989) instead focused more on the self and proposed to code items as private self (I am generous), public self (I am careful towards others) or collective self (I am Catholic)
Another consideration would be the salience of specific identities coded as independent or interdependent. One may argue that the specific types of identities are more accessible after the cultural prime, and in turn, listed earlier then others.
I also think it would be interesting to generate codes base on independence and interdependence especially if a cultural prime would suggest such a response.
Since you are using the TST in conjunction with an experimental design, it would make sense to code the data according to your proposed dependent variable. That would mean distinguishing between responses that are or are not culture-relevant.
You might also look at not just how many such statements were given but also where those statements occurred within the list (e.g., first three or lower).
Dear Michael,
Kanagawa, Cross and Markus (2001) expanded Cousin's (1989) coding system, and used it in a cross-cultural context. A detailed description from their coding system can be found in their publication (please find it attached).
Article “Who Am I?” The Cultural Psychology of the Conceptual Self
Dear Michael,
I would recommend you to take into account the distinction between priming relational self and collective self (both are the parts of interdependent self) for testing the priming effectiveness. The description of this distinction, and the review of methods used to priming and methods used to assess its effectiveness you can find in this article.
Cross, S. E., Hardin, E. E., & Gercek-Swing, B. (2011). The what, how, why, and where of self-construal. Personality and Social Psychology Review. 15(2) 142–
179.
The authors recommend that kind of coding:
"Responses to these statements may then be coded by the researcher as either independent (e.g., “I am intelligent”; “I am shy”), relational (e.g., “I am Bob’s girlfriend”; “I am a mother”), or interdependent-collective (e.g., “I am on the soccer team”; “I am African American”)."
From my own experience I would recommend to ask subjects to provide 10 answers to the question Who am I ? There are much less possible collective-interdependent responses than the individualistic responses. If you reduced response to 10 it would be easier to detect the effectiveness of priming. Very often responses between 15-20 are random and unimportant, but individualistic in coding system, which interferes with testing of the effectiveness of priming.
Hope its help.
Dariusz
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