Remodeling Concepts of the Self: An Ijo Example

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Abstract
There has been an ongoing debate in the anthropological and psychological literature as to the appropriate models for conceptualizing self and person in relation to society. The models have different labels, but the opposition expressed between the two focus on the cultural construction of self‐determinacy. The Western model is egocentric in that individuals are situated as free agents, striving to actualize themselves in terms of selfachievement, in afield of extrinsic social institutions, such as the family, and other associations. In the non‐Western, sociocentric model individuals subsume themselves, making the social field intrinsic to themselves. Their actions are predicated by the social contexts in which they are found; achievement motivation and emotional expression are tempered by an expectation that an individual's goals must be subservient to the group at large.In examining our data, collected among the Ijo in southern Nigeria, it appeared that there were elements of both models present in the way individuals defined themselves and their social relationships. We argue that the two models are not necessarily exclusive nor are they conflicting, but may coexist in the selfdefinitions and motivations of individuals within the same society.

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