International Journal of Intercultural Relations 36 (2012) 377–388 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect International Journal of Intercultural Relations journa l h o me pag e: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijintrel Identity in South Africa: Examining self-descriptions across ethnic groups Byron G. Adams a,b,∗ , Fons J.R. Van de Vijver a,c,d , Gideon P. De Bruin b a Tilburg University, The Netherlands b University of Johannesburg, South Africa c North-West University, South Africa d University of Queensland, Australia a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 3 March 2011 Accepted 20 November 2011 Keywords: Self-descriptions Identity Trait theory Independence–interdependence Individualism–collectivism South Africa a b s t r a c t We examined identity indicators in free self-descriptions of African, Coloured, Indian, and White ethnic groups in South Africa. Based on trait theory, independence–interdependence, and individualism–collectivism, we predicted that the individualistic White group would have more independent and context-free identity descriptions than the other, more collec- tivistic groups. We did not expect differences across the four groups in terms of Ideological, Religious, Spiritual and Ethnic aspects of identity. Loglinear analyses of the coded self- descriptions largely confirmed expectations for the African and White groups, but less so for the Coloured and Indian groups. Overall, the study found a large number of cross-cultural similarities with independent, individualistic, context-free and Dispositional Descriptions prevalent in all groups. The most salient difference between the African and White groups was that the African group was more likely than the White group to specify target persons in relational self-descriptions. This suggests a stronger in-group–out-group distinction in the African group. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Self-descriptions are a means of defining the self and contain information about an individual’s conceptualization of the self and identity (Bond & Cheung, 1983; McAdams, 1995; McAdams & Pals, 2006; Somech, 2000). The study of self-descriptions is concerned with the investigation of culture-specific features and similarities present in individu- alistic (western, independent, and idiocentric) and collectivistic (non-western, interdependent, and allocentric) groups (Brewer & Chen, 2007; Oysterman, Coon, & Kellermeier, 2002; Somech, 2000; Yeh & Hwang, 2000). In this research study we examined the presentation of identity in South Africa in free self-descriptions using personality trait theory, independence–interdependence (individual level) and individualism–collectivism (group/cultural level) as the theoretical basis of inquiry. The study examined differences in self-descriptions between the four main ethnic groups in South Africa, as defined by the South African government. In order to provide a context for the study this article presents a definition of identity and then describes relevant elements of South African culture and identity. Finally, the four variables that were con- sidered important for the examination of identity are discussed. These variables are (a) Relational Orientation, (b) Content Descriptions (specifying traits and other contents), (c) Situational Specification, and (d) Ideological, Religious, Spiritual and Ethnic References. ∗ Corresponding author at: Department of Industrial Psychology and People Management, Kingsway Campus, Auckland Park 2006, South Africa. E-mail address: bgadams@uj.ac.za (B.G. Adams). 0147-1767/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ijintrel.2011.11.008