1. THE ONE; THE MANY… Individualism and collectivism: Cross-cultural perspectives on self-ingroup relationships Triandis, et. Al Leah Brown, Elizabeth Flockhart, Denise Rye, Celeste Smith, Amy Sturm

2. Background “Behavior never occurs in a vacuum”(211) Examples
Personal space
Friendship
Parenting styles
Family dynamics

3. Background Theory: Individualism-Collectivism Model How?
Used to explain large amounts of variation seen in human behavior, social interaction, and personality
Explain differences in people and/or groups
How?
Collectivist Cultures: individual needs, desires, etc. are secondary to those of the group (Asia)
Individualistic Cultures: Higher value on the needs and accomplishments of the individual rather than the group (United States)

4. Method
Three studies
Self-report questionnaires
Hypothetical vignettes

5. Study #1 300 Psych. Undergrads from U of Chicago
158 item questionnaire measuring tendency toward collectivism vs. individualistic beliefs and behaviors
Five scenarios-hypothetical social situations

6. Findings 50% of variation in responses explained by three factors
Self-reliance
Competition
Distance from in-groups
14% explained by “concern for ingroup”
There is more concern for an individual’s own self than for the group

7. Study # 2 91 students from U. of Chicago 97 Puerto Rican students
150 Japanese students
106 older Japanese individuals

8. Study #2 144 item questionnaire measuring collectivist characteristics
Items from questionnaire show previous studies deal with three collectivist-related tendencies
Concern for in-group
Closeness of self to in-group
Subordination of own goals to in-group goals

9. Findings
Japanese students more concerned with opinions of friends and coworkers in relation to U. of Chicago. No relation between Puerto Rican students and others
Japanese students found less conformity than Chicago students because of Westernizing
Evidence that this has changed: the 106 older Japanese individuals showed more conformity

10. Warnings for Study #2
“Conclusions about collectivist and individualistic cultures shouldn’t be overly sweeping and must be carefully applied to selective, specific behaviors, situations, and cultures”(216)

11. Study #3 Attempt to restrict and sharpen research focus
Extending previous findings
72 items, 100 subjects
Comparison between U. of Chicago and U. of Puerto Rico
Answered questions about perceived amount of social support and perceived amount of loneliness

12. Findings Collectivism was positively correlated with social support
Collectivism was negatively associated with loneliness
American students most variance resulted from “self-reliance with competition”
Puerto Ricans were influenced by “affiliation”

13. In Summary…
The studies supported the theory, but there were changes in the definition of collectivism and individualism
Individualism and collectivism previously seen as opposites, but Triandis explains it as a continuum

14. Collectivist-individualistic cultural continuum

15. Significance A little discussion… Health Education
What significance do you find from Triandis’ findings?
Health
Education
Childrearing & Parenting

16. Recent Applications
This study cited in over 200 other articles in a variety of scientific fields
Theory applied to self-esteem studies
Theory applied in a cross-cultural approach to look at children’s reactions to people with disabilities

17. Important Application of Theory
Theory doesn’t only have to be applied to comparisons between countries, but can be applied within countries

18. More Discussion…
What states would you predict have more collectivist or more individualistic tendencies?
Do you see any possible faults with this study? What could you do to improve it?
Do these findings apply to you, and do you think you can be categorized as an individualistic or collectivist?