This project examined cultural changes in terms of individualism-collectivism in China between 1950 and 1999 focusing on cultural associations that are discernible through analysis of language use. ...Drawing on algorithms in natural language processing (NLP) that numerically represent word meanings in a high-dimensional space, we examined patterns of word similarity for words indicating individualism and collectivism in Chinese. This methodology enables researchers of cultural change to investigate questions that were difficult to examine before. We examined four such questions pertaining to individualism-collectivism cultural change in China. The data spanning five decades found no evidence of Chinese culture becoming more positively disposed to individualism over time. Another finding suggested a continuing cultural association between collectivism and some life domains, work in particular. These findings suggest that rising individualism is not a universal consequence of societal modernization and that collectivism in China may be self-sustaining. The data also indicate that the Chinese language might have become more differentiated and complex in its discourse on individualism and collectivism.
Public Significance StatementThis study examines individualism-collectivism cultural change in China between 1950 to 1999. It suggests that rising individualism is not a universal consequence of societal modernization.
Behaviours recommended for reducing transmission of COVID‐19 – social distancing, wearing masks, and now, vaccination – are aimed at not only reducing one’s own risk, but risk to others. We posited ...that a collectivist mindset, versus individualistic, would facilitate intentions to engage in behaviours aimed at curtailing the spread of the virus when the awareness of mortality is activated. This hypothesis was informed by the terror management health model and tested in two studies. In each study, collective ‘we’ (vs. the individual ‘I’) was primed, in conjunction with mortality salience compared to a control condition. The results were generally consistent, with Study 1 showing that when collectivism, but not individualism, was primed, individuals responded to a COVID‐19‐based mortality reminder with a significant increase in health intentions, including social distancing and mask wearing. In Study 2, when mortality was salient, priming individualism led to reduced vaccination intention compared to collectivism. We discuss limitations to the research and conclude with the recommendation that COVID‐19‐based communications highlight the dangers of the virus in conjunction with a focus on the collective ‘we’ to best encourage optimal virus mitigation behaviour.
This study aimed to investigate how cultural values affect ethical consumption behavior. For this purpose, cultural values were divided into the following four groups: vertical individualism, ...vertical collectivism, horizontal individualism, and horizontal collectivism. Ethical consumption was analyzed across two dimensions: eco-friendly and socioeconomic-oriented consumption. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted using the results of an online survey. Survey links were texted and e-mailed to 938 subjects who responded after being contacted in advance to join consumer panels registered with a marketing research company. Structural equation modeling with EQS 6 was used to test the hypotheses in this study. Vertical individualism was found to have no significant effect on socioeconomic-oriented consumption. Horizontal individualism, horizontal collectivism, and vertical collectivism, however, positively impacted eco-friendly and socioeconomic-oriented consumption. In addition, an exploratory factor analysis of ethical consumption was conducted to construct the variables. This study provides valuable guidelines for further research into ethical consumption behaviors, that is, eco-friendly ethical consumption behaviors and socioeconomic-oriented ethical consumption behaviors. Based on these components, subsequent studies could provide valuable information regarding consumers’ ethical value structures and the identification of causal relationships with prior factors or happiness outcomes. The study implications are discussed in the conclusion.
This study examines the relation between leadership and team cohesiveness in different societal cultures. We expect direct effects of societal culture on leadership and team cohesiveness, as well as ...a moderating effect of culture on the relationship between leadership and cohesiveness. Data were collected from 29,868 managers and 138,270 corresponding team members in 80 countries. Multilevel analysis was used to test the hypotheses, relating societal individualism–collectivism (IC), with directive and supportive leadership, and with team cohesiveness. In individualistic societies managers use less directive and less supportive behavior, compared with collectivistic societies. Team cohesiveness is not directly related with IC. Directive leadership and supportive leadership are negatively and positively related with team cohesiveness respectively and these relations are stronger in individualistic societies. Implications for managerial education and practices are discussed.
This article explores women’s accounts of receiving unsolicited dick pics from men. Drawing on material derived from in-depth interviews with adult British women, its focus is on how these ...interviewees relied on a postfeminist discursive framework in order to make sense of such experiences, and on how this rendered them more likely to recognise unsolicited dick pic practices as acts of sexism. As such, these women also felt encouraged to respond to their receiving of unsolicited dick pics by engaging in humorous practices of anti-sexist resistance. Still, the article also shows how the interviewees’ drawing on a postfeminist discursive framework rendered them more prone to approach unsolicited dick pic practices and sexism in individualised and decontextualised manners, meaning that they failed to recognise and critically address the broader social structures that enable dick pics to circulate online as acts of sexism in the first place.
This article investigates the impact of individualism–collectivism on a person's willingness to donate organs. In Study 1, an online survey showed that individualism–collectivism was significantly ...and positively associated with participants' willingness to register as organ donors while perceived benefit mediated this relationship. Study 2 demonstrated the causal effect of individualism–collectivism on organ donation intentions using a priming technique. Participants primed with collectivism were more likely to register as organ donors than those primed with individualism. Our findings provide unique insights into whether cultural values (i.e., individualism–collectivism) can predict people's organ donation intentions.
Although turnover is an issue of global concern, paradoxically there have been few studies of turnover across cultures. We investigated the cross-cultural generalizability of the job embeddedness ...model (
Mitchell & Lee, 2001
) by examining turnover in an individualistic country (United States) and a collectivistic country (India). Using cross-cultural data from call centers (
N
= 797), we demonstrated that although organization job embeddedness predicted turnover in both countries, different dimensions of job embeddedness predicted turnover in the United States and India. As hypothesized, on the basis of individualism-collectivism theory, person-job fit was a significant predictor of lower turnover in the United States, whereas person-organization fit, organization links, and community links were significant predictors of lower turnover in India. We also explored whether a newly developed construct of embeddedness-family embeddedness-predicts turnover above and beyond job embeddedness and found initial support for its utility in both the United States and India. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Among a variety of dynamics that may have effects on internet-related behaviors, cultural orientation is particularly important. Previous studies suggest that individualism is a strong determinant of ...certain behaviors. In addition, findings suggest that vertical individualism may lead to the development of more tolerance for addiction and aggression on the internet.
This study aimed to investigate whether vertical individualism has significant positive effects on cyberbullying and internet addiction and whether horizontal individualism has significant negative effects on cyberbullying and internet addiction. A theoretical model was specified to test the relationships among vertical versus horizontal individualism, cyberbullying, and internet addiction.
A total of 665 college students were selected using a convenience sampling method and willingly participated in the study. Participants' ages ranged from 17 to 19 years (mean 17.94 years, SD 1.12 years). Of the group, 462 were women (462/665, 69.5%), and 203 were men (203/665, 30.5%). Study majors represented were mathematics (113/665, 17%), sciences (102/665, 15.3%), instructional technology (99/665, 14.9%), psychology (98/665, 14.7%), and others (253/665, 38.1%). Self-report instruments were used to measure vertical/horizontal individualism, cyberbullying, and internet addiction.
Results show a significant positive effect of vertical individualism (effect size 0.10) and significant negative effect of horizontal individualism (effect size -0.12) on cyberbullying. In addition, the direct effect of vertical individualism on internet addiction was significant (effect size 0.28), but the direct effect of horizontal individualism was not (effect size -0.05). Internet addiction had a significant direct effect on cyberbullying (effect size 0.39) as well as an intervening effect on the relationship between vertical individualism and cyberbullying. Results also indicate significant gender differences in cultural patterns and internet addiction.
The findings suggest that horizontal and vertical individualism have significant effects on internet addiction. The findings also suggest that vertical individualists are more vulnerable to internet addiction. Further, the findings indicate a significant relationship between internet addiction and cyberbullying.
Scholars have understood the anonymity of the Egyptian kings in Exodus in various ways. Some argue that the Israelite author intentionally anonymized the foreign kings for possible rhetorical ...effects. Others believe that the anonymity was a simple case of inadvertent forgetting. Although these approaches have merit in contributing to a more robust understanding of the anonymity of Pharaohs, a different approach may also have something to offer in grasping a fuller understanding of the absence of the Pharaonic names. In this regard, this article seeks to examine the anonymity in conversation with the Egyptian practice of damnatio memoriae (i.e., damnation of memory). According to this method, the proto-Israelite transmitters of the Exodus traditions deliberately obliterated the names of the Egyptian kings for the purpose of terminating their existence and memory from the proto-Israelite community.
This work attempts to approach adolescence as a concept constructed throughout modern age and that has now gained great importance in human sciences. Thus, in a contemporary background, this concept ...is shared socially, producing knowledge and delimiting practical processes that exert influence in the subjective configuration of those who share this social net. Psychoanalytical and psychosociological references are used to analyze the predominant representations of adolescence in western and modern societies and the relations between these representations and the accomplishment of the ideals of freedom and autonomy of the individualistic society. Specifically, it analyzes the attribution of transgression and revolt as inherent characteristics of adolescence and the incidences of these attributes in the accomplishment of these ideals. No presente artigo, problematizamos a adolescência a partir do pressuposto de que se trata de um conceito construído ao longo da modernidade que passou a ocupar um lugar central nas ciências humanas. Assim, no cenário contemporâneo, esse conceito é compartilhado socialmente, produzindo saberes e delimitando práticas que exercem influência na configuração subjetiva daqueles que compartilham dessa rede social. Referenciais psicanalíticos e psicossociais são utilizados para analisar as representações de adolescência predominantes nas sociedades ocidentais e modernas e as relações entre essas representações e a realização dos ideais de liberdade e de autonomia da sociedade individualista. De forma específica, analisa-se a atribuição da transgressão e da rebeldia como características inerentes à adolescência e as incidências desses atributos na realização desses ideais. En el presente artículo, problematizamos la adolescencia a partir del presupuesto de que se trata de un concepto construido a lo largo de la modernidad que pasó a ocupar un lugar central en las ciencias humanas. Así, en el escenario contemporáneo, ese concepto es compartido socialmente, produciendo saberes y delimitando prácticas que ejercen influencia en la configuración subjetiva de aquellos que comparten esa red social. Referenciales psicoanalíticos y psicosociales son utilizados para analizar las representaciones de adolescencia predominantes en las sociedades occidentales y modernas y las relaciones entre esas representaciones y la realización de los ideales de libertad y de autonomía de la sociedad individualista. De forma específica, es analizada la atribución de la transgresión y de la rebeldía como características inherentes a la adolescencia y las incidencias de esos atributos en la realización de esos ideales.
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