Horizontal and Vertical Dimensions of Individualism-Collectivism: A Comparison of African Americans and European Americans

The current study examined ethnic differences in horizontal and vertical dimensions of individualism and collectivism among 96 African American and 149 European American college students. Participants completed the 32-item Singelis et al. (1995) Individualism/Collectivism Scale . Multivariate analys...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cultural diversity & ethnic minority psychology 2008-10, Vol.14 (4), p.336-343
Main Authors: Komarraju, Meera, Cokley, Kevin O
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
African Americans - psychology
Black People
Black White Differences
Collectivism
Cooperative Behavior
Cross-Cultural Comparison
Ethnicity
European Continental Ancestry Group - psychology
Female
Human
Humans
Individualism
Individuality
Individuation
Male
Racial and Ethnic Differences
Social Alienation
Surveys and Questionnaires
United States of America
White People
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Summary:The current study examined ethnic differences in horizontal and vertical dimensions of individualism and collectivism among 96 African American and 149 European American college students. Participants completed the 32-item Singelis et al. (1995) Individualism/Collectivism Scale . Multivariate analyses of variance results yielded a main effect for ethnicity, with African Americans being significantly higher on horizontal individualism and European Americans being higher on horizontal collectivism and vertical individualism. A moderated multiple regression analysis indicated that ethnicity significantly moderated the relationship between individualism and collectivism. Individualism and collectivism were significantly and positively associated among African Americans, but not associated among European Americans. In addition, collectivism was related to grade point average for African Americans but not for European Americans. Contrary to the prevailing view of individualism-collectivism being unipolar, orthogonal dimensions, results provide support for individualism-collectivism to be considered as unipolar, related dimensions for African Americans.
ISSN:1099-9809
1939-0106
DOI:10.1037/1099-9809.14.4.336