The cultural constitution of the person: insights from Professor Susan E. Cross on self, relationships, and honor

Purpose This paper aims to present an interview with Professor Susan E. Cross, whose work on self-construal, close relationships and honor has shaped cultural psychology and informed management research. Design/methodology/approach The interview was based on a structured review of Professor Cross’s scholarship. It covered her intellectual origins, major research programs, implications for management and organizations and views on future directions. The Zoom conversation was transcribed, edited for clarity and approved by Professor Cross. Findings Professor Cross advances the view that culture and mind constitute each other. Her work shows how the relational-interdependent self-construal captures a dyadic and relationship-centered self, how beginning relationship research from local concepts changes what counts as a good relationship and how honor organizes the self around reputation, respect and others’ evaluations. These ideas speak to leadership, negotiation, conflict management, apology and organizational citizenship behavior and challenge organizational theories that assume an independent, self-expressive actor as the default person. Originality/value The interview brings a culturally grounded model of persons and relationships into management history and shows how organizational scholarship can better account for culturally diverse models of the self.