NUK - logo
E-resources
Full text
Peer reviewed
  • Individualism With Chinese ...
    Hamamura, Takeshi; Chen, Zhicong; Chan, Christian S.; Chen, Sylvia Xiaohua; Kobayashi, Tetsuro

    The American psychologist, 09/2021, Volume: 76, Issue: 6
    Journal Article

    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.