真我在生活中一直是一个重要话题，我们经常能听到“做你自己”，“发现了真实的自己”这样的言论。而真我观，即对于真我的认知图式，虽然不完全等同于真我，但是在生活的方方面面都扮演着重要角色。学界主流观点认为，真我观来自于本质主义。然而，既然不同文化下个体的思维方式不同，那么对于真我的信念和概念化，也应有所不同。本研究旨在探索文化所带来的思维方式差异对本质主义真我观的影响。具体而言，我们提出两个相互对立的假设，一是整体性思维削弱本质主义真我观假设，二是是整体性思维增强本质主义真我观假设。 研究1A与1B在重复前人研究范式的基础上增加了对整体性思维的测量。在研究2中，我们同样在相关层面探究整体性思维对本质主义真我观的影响，但采用了与研究1A/1B不同的范式，具体而言，研究2所用范式更为具象化，用图形来代表自我与真我概念。此外，研究2进行了跨文化对比。研究3希望能通过操纵自变量提供更多因果层面的证据。研究4则聚焦于整体性思维对本质主义真我观的影响机制，重点关注功能灵活性的中介作用，以及不同文化下的差异。研究发现：（1）整体性思维越强，真我与本质主义的关系越紧密；（2）无论中国还是美国被试都在一定程度上具有本质主义真我观，而中介分析表明，相比于美国被试，中国被试有更强的整体性思维，进而拥有更内核化的真我概念；（3）整体性思维可以增强增强本质主义真我观，相比于启动分析性思维，启动整体性思维会增强被试的自我本质主义信念，从而增强被试对于真我的相信程度；（4）在相关关系层面上，中国和美国被试构建真我的方式可能存在文化差异。 理论意义上，本研究直接从文化的视角探索了真我观，有助于更好地理解不同文化下的思维方式，并且提出思维方式影响真我观的可能机制。在应用价值方面，本研究有利于个体加深对自我以及真我的理解，明白自己情绪、思想、行为背后的原因，在现实生活中更好地发挥真我观的指南针作用。此外，在全球化的背景下，不同文化之间的交流和合作越来越频繁。了解不同文化中真我观的认知差异，有助于提高跨文化沟通的效率和成功率。

True self has been a prominent topic in everyday life, often accompanied by phrases like “be yourself” and “discover your authentic self”. The true self concept, or the cognitive schema of the true self, although not completely equivalent to the true self, plays an important role in all aspects of life. The mainstream view in academia is that the true self concept comes from essentialist beliefs. However, since the thinking styles of individuals in different cultures are different, the beliefs and conceptualizations of the true self should also differ. This study aims to explore the impact of cultural differences in thinking styles on essentialist beliefs about the true self. Specifically, we propose two opposing hypotheses: one is that holistic thinking weakens the essentialist beliefs about the true self, and the other is that holistic thinking enhances the essentialist beliefs about the true self. Study 1A and 1B added measures of holistic thinking based on the repetition of previous research paradigms. In Study 2, we also investigated the influence of holistic thinking on essentialist beliefs about the true self at the correlation level, but used a different paradigm than Study 1A/1B. Specifically, Study 2 used a more concrete paradigm, using graphics to represent the concepts of the self and the true self. In addition, Study 2 conducted cross-cultural comparisons. Study 3 aimed to provide more causal evidence by manipulating the independent variable. Study 4 focused on the mechanism of the impact of holistic thinking on essentialist beliefs about the self, with a particular focus on the mediating role of functional flexibility and cultural differences. Results indicated that: (1) the stronger the holistic thinking, the closer the relationship between the true self and essentialism; (2) regardless of whether Chinese or American participants, they have a certain degree of essentialist beliefs about the true self, but the mediation analysis showed that Chinese participants have stronger holistic thinking and thus a more core concept of the true self; (3) holistic thinking can enhance essentialist beliefs about the true self, and compared to activating analytic thinking, activating holistic thinking will enhance participants‘ self-essentialist beliefs more, thereby enhancing their belief in the true self more; (4) at the correlation level, Chinese and American participants may have cultural differences in constructing the true self concept. In terms of theoretical significance, this study directly explores beliefs about the true self from the cultural perspective, which helps to better understand the thinking styles in different cultures and proposes possible mechanisms for how thinking styles affect beliefs about the true self. In terms of practical value, this study helps individuals to deepen their understanding of themselves and true selves, understand the reasons behind their emotions, thoughts, and behaviors, and better utilize the guidance of the true self concept in real life. In addition, in the context of globalization, communication and cooperation between different cultures are becoming more frequent. Understanding the cognitive differences in beliefs about the true self in different cultures can improve the efficiency and success rate of cross-cultural communication.