Asian Indian “Self-Suppression” and Self-Disclosure

Abstract

This article studies the cultural influences guiding Asian Indians in deciding whether to express or suppress self-disclosures and self-expressive actions. Philipsen’s definition of ritual is used as a heuristic for examining situations in which overt self-expressions are prohibited or discouraged. The analysis provides a catalyst for reviewing Philipsen’s definition of ritual to include intrapersonal communicative resources that meaningfully reflect and constitute the social realities and the social interactions of participants. Ethnographic interviews with Asian Indian sojourners to the United States are used to examine how, on certain occasions, Asian Indians invoke a culturally meaningful set of thought processes about appropriate role conduct and use a widely intelligible cultural rationale to prompt self-suppression. The findings suggest that this form of communicative conduct adapts to the cultural context by allowing a greater range of disclosures and self-expressive actions and that it guides sojourners’ interpretations of some intercultural encounters.