Individualism-Collectivism

Abstract

Individualism and collectivism are terms used by both social scientists and the public, but there are few systematic studies of this dimension. A sample of psychologists and anthropologists from all parts of the world was asked to respond to a questionnaire the way they believe an individualist and a collectivist would respond. The questionnaire described 10 target persons in seven situations. The responses converged, suggesting that there is consensus about the meaning of the dimension. Accordingly, collectivism can be defined as (1) concern by a person about the effects of actions or decisions on others, (2) sharing of material benefits, (3) sharing of nonmaterial resources, (4) willingness of the person to accept the opinions and views of others, (5) concern about self-presentation and loss of face, (6) belief in the correspondence of own outcomes with the outcomes of others, and (7) feeling of involvement in and contribution to the lives of others. Individualists show less concern, sharing, and so on than collectivists. The approach can be used with other relatively unstudied constructs to establish whether there is consensus among researchers about the meaning of a construct.