Psychological dynamics of

The aim of this study was to compare the psychodynamics of “self” between Iranian and American students. An ex post facto design was employed where more than 1000 university students in Tehran (754 women and 446 men) were selected via cluster sampling and completed the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Form M (Myers, McCauley, Quenk, & Hammer, 1998) and the Adjective Check List (Gough & Heilbrun, 1983). Results indicated that Iranians were more introverted and intuitive and Americans we’re more extraverted and sensing. Iranians also showed more tension in relationships and reported being more competitive, aggressive and showed low nurturance compared to their American counterparts which could be interpreted in accordance with the vertical social structure. These cultural differences were more salient among women. Iranian and American men were more similar to each other. The core differences between the two samples on psychodynamics of self-lie in security and the structure of power distribution, rationality, concreteness and gender. These findings could have implications in attempts to indigenize psychological concepts and reiterates the importance of culture in applied fields such as psychodynamic psychotherapy in Iran.