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Collectivism v. Individualism: A Reconceptualisation of a Basic Concept in Cross-cultural Social Psychology

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Book cover Cross-Cultural Studies of Personality, Attitudes and Cognition

Abstract

Perhaps the most important dimension of cultural difference in social behaviour, across the diverse cultures of the world, is the relative emphasis on individualism v. collectivism. In individualist cultures, most people’s social behaviour is largely determined by personal goals, attitudes, and values of collectivities (families, co-workers, fellow countrymen). In collectivist cultures, most people’s social behaviour is largely determined by goals, attitudes, and values that are shared with some collectivity (group of persons).

In C. Bagley and G. K. Verma (eds) (1986) Personality, Cognition and Values: Cross-cultural Perspectives of Childhood and Adolescence, London: Macmillan. Helpful critical comments were received from R. Shweder, Michael Bond, C. H. Hui, Y. Kashima, Kwok Leung, Emiko Shimada and Marcelo Villareal.

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Authors
  1. Harry Triandis
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Ethnic Studies in Education, University of Manchester, UK

    Gajendra K. Verma (Reader in Education and Director) (Reader in Education and Director)

  2. University of Calgary, Canada

    Christopher Bagley (Professor of Child Welfare) (Professor of Child Welfare)

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© 1988 Gajendra K. Verma and Christopher Bagley

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Triandis, H. (1988). Collectivism v. Individualism: A Reconceptualisation of a Basic Concept in Cross-cultural Social Psychology. In: Verma, G.K., Bagley, C. (eds) Cross-Cultural Studies of Personality, Attitudes and Cognition. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-08120-2_3

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