While an individual in his own culture is expected to have a stable self concept, one who is placed in a totally different context may experience difficulties because ideas about self in the old society are no longer appropriate in the new one. In order to survive, the individual has to redefine his self concept to make it more functional in the new environment, while retaining the old cultural values. Asians in American society have made such adjustments in self concept. Most previous studies of Asian American self concept, however, have focused on the Westernization of the Asian without considering the influence of traditional culture on self concept development. The few studies that do look at cultural influences tend to generalize observations for all Asians and neglect ethnic group differences. To a large extent, the tendency to generalize stems from translation difficulties where, for instance, the same English term is used to translate Japanese, Chinese, and Filipino terminologies for value concepts that are similar but have unique connotations within their particular contexts. In view of these cultural differences, it is important that studies of Asian American self concept focus on cultural retention more than on Asian assimilation into American culture. (Author/MJL)