Summary Researcher Harry Triandis conducted countless studies in an attempt to discover the impact of culture on human behavior. Although numerous cultural factors make it difficult to find solid conclusions, Triandis has worked to attribute distinct characteristics of behavior to different cultures. Through three main studies, he has found that certain behavioral and personality traits can be associated to either a collectivist or individualist culture. A collectivist culture values the goals and needs of a larger group, an ingroup in which one belongs, over the goals and needs of an individual. Adversely, an individualistic culture values the well-being and success of an individual over the goals and needs of an ingroup . Triandis found
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The participants were all American University of Chicago students, as the aim of the study was to determine how individualistic ideals can be applied to the United States. The questionnaire comprised of 158 items, each item worded in a way that would determine whether the individual leaned towards collectivistic or individualistic beliefs and behaviors. The aim of the second study was to determine how individualistic American culture can be compared to the collectivist cultures of Japan and Puerto Rico. Participants included 91 University of Chicago students, 97 Puerto Rican University students, 150 Japanese University students, and 106 older Japanese individuals (Triandis, Bontempo, Villareal, Asai, & Lucca, 1988, p.221). All participants received a questionnaire with 144 items to be answered individually. Participants in the third study included 50 female and 50 male students from the University of Chicago and the University of Puerto Rico. All took a collectivist-individualist questionnaire with 72 items, as well as a questionnaire about their perceived level of loneliness and support received from others. The study aimed to determine if individuals in a collectivist culture believed they had strong social support and saw themselves as less lonely than those in an individualist …show more content…
He found that associating countries with a sole cultural label would be inaccurate. Most regions merely fall toward one side of the collectivist-individualistic cultural continuum; and while this is true for a vast majority of cultures, there is always the possibility of an outlier. In summary, Triandis learned that identifying a country as either fully collectivistic or individualistic would be inaccurate when looking at the results of his research.
Follow up
The participants were all American University of Chicago students, as the aim of the study was to determine how individualistic ideals can be applied to the United States. The questionnaire comprised of 158 items, each item worded in a way that would determine whether the individual leaned towards collectivistic or individualistic beliefs and behaviors. The aim of the second study was to determine how individualistic American culture can be compared to the collectivist cultures of Japan and Puerto Rico. Participants included 91 University of Chicago students, 97 Puerto Rican University students, 150 Japanese University students, and 106 older Japanese individuals (Triandis, Bontempo, Villareal, Asai, & Lucca, 1988, p.221). All participants received a questionnaire with 144 items to be answered individually. Participants in the third study included 50 female and 50 male students from the University of Chicago and the University of Puerto Rico. All took a collectivist-individualist questionnaire with 72 items, as well as a questionnaire about their perceived level of loneliness and support received from others. The study aimed to determine if individuals in a collectivist culture believed they had strong social support and saw themselves as less lonely than those in an individualist …show more content…
He found that associating countries with a sole cultural label would be inaccurate. Most regions merely fall toward one side of the collectivist-individualistic cultural continuum; and while this is true for a vast majority of cultures, there is always the possibility of an outlier. In summary, Triandis learned that identifying a country as either fully collectivistic or individualistic would be inaccurate when looking at the results of his research.
Follow up