The Emic Strategy in the Identification and Assessment of Personality Dimensions in a Non-Western Culture

Abstract

The rationale for, and steps for executing, an emic (culture-specific) strategy in the identification and assessment of personality dimensions in non-Western cultures is discussed. We argue that the emic strategy has been underused, and that it best precedes attempts to demonstrate cross-cultural(etic) links or generalities. Four steps in the emic strategy are described: (1) identification of emic concepts, (2) generation of culture-relevant items to assess emic concepts,(3) emic validation of emic dimensions, and (4) relating emic and imposed-etic dimensions in a search for etic or universal dimensions. In a Philippine illustration of these steps, emic personality dimensions (scales) tapping Filipino college students' emic concepts of healthy personality showed variable links to existing U.S. personality dimensions, which in turn showed only fair generalizability to the Philippine setting.