Variations in collectivism and individualism by ingroup and culture: Confirmatory factor analysis (original) (raw)

1996, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Five models of collectivism and individualism, which varied by ingroup and measurement specification, were tested with confirmatory factor analyses. The sample consisted of 493 college students from South Korea and the United States, with U.S. students divided between Asian Americans and European Americans. Results indicated that collectivism and individualism are best represented by a 4-factor model with the latent variables Kin Collectivism (KC), Kin Individualism (KI), Nonkin Collectivism (NC), and Nonkin Individualism (NI). KC and KI were strongly inversely related, but NC and NI were only moderately so. Whereas KC and NC were moderately related within each of the 3 student groups, KI and NI were moderately related only among Koreans and Asian Americans, and not among European Americans. Thus, the meanings of collectivism and individualism vary with ingroup and culture. Measurement, methodological, and conceptual implications are discussed. Research suggests that there are cultural differences in social behavior (K~itqiba~i & Berry, 1989). However, finding the best ways to represent or organize cross-cultural data is a difficult task. Collectivism and individualism have been proposed as possible underlying variables (Triandis, 1995). Various conceptions of collectivism and individualism have been the focus of extensive research in the 15 years since Hofstede (1980) identified these constructs as opposite poles of a value dimension that differentiates world cultures. Features associated with collectivism include being concerned with the ingroup's fate and giving its goals priority over one's own; maintaining harmony, interdependence, and cooperation and avoiding open conflict within the ingroup; reciprocity among ingroup members, who are related in a network of interlocking responsibilities and obligations; self-definition in terms of one's ingroups; and distinguishing sharply between ingroups and outgroups. In contrast, features associated with individualism include having greater concern with personal than ingroup fate and giving personal goals priority over ingroup goals; feeling independent and emotionally detached from one's ingroups; accepting confrontations within ingroups; and defining the self independently of one's ingroups (Ho & Chiu, 1994; Markus & Kitayama, 1991; Tri