The existing literature of cultural psychology typically portrays Westerners as independent and non-Westerners as interdependent. The contrast between the West and the ?rest? is often criticized as overly simplistic; however, little systematic psychological work exists on non-Western cultures except in East Asia. Here, we propose that there are at least four distinct forms of interdependence, depending on the strategies adopted to achieve the valued state of interdependence. In self-effacing interdependence (typical of East Asian cultures), interdependence is achieved through conflict avoidance; in self-assertive interdependence (typical of Arab cultures), interdependence is achieved through ingroup protection; in expressive interdependence (typical of Latin cultures), interdependence is achieved through emotional expressivity within relationships; and in argumentative interdependence (typical of Indian and Jewish cultures), interdependence is achieved through logical argumentation. The diverse strategies for interdependence reflect the unique configuration of socio-ecological, geo-demographic, and historical factors of each area or group. Importantly, Western culture is thought to have adopted the existing strategies for interdependence in its adjacent cultures (notably, self-assertion, emotional expression, and logical argumentation) and redefined the psychological function and social meaning of each, not as the means for interdependence but instead as the means for independence.