Title: Individualistic Practices and Values Increasing Around the World – Association for Psychological Science – APS
Headings: Individualistic Practices and Values Increasing Around the World
Individualistic Practices and Values Increasing Around the World
Content: Although there are still cross-national differences in individualism-collectivism, the data indicate that, overall, most countries are moving towards greater individualism.” Drawing from national census data and data collected for the World Values Survey, Santos, senior study author Igor Grossmann (University of Waterloo), and study co-author Michael E.W. Varnum (Arizona State University) were able to examine 51 years’ worth of data detailing individualist practices and values in a total of 78 countries. In general, individualist cultures tend to conceive of people as self-directed and autonomous, and they tend to prioritize independence and uniqueness as cultural values. Collectivist cultures, on the other hand, tend to see people as connected with others and embedded in a broader social context – as such, they tend to emphasize interdependence, family relationships, and social conformity. To measure individualistic practices across cultures, the researchers examined data on household size, divorce rates, and proportion of people living alone. To measure individualistic values, they examined data on the importance that people place on friends versus family, how important people believe it is to teach children to be independent, and the degree to which people prioritize self-expression as a national goal. Santos, Varnum, and Grossmann also looked at data on specific socio-ecological factors – including the level of socioeconomic development, disaster frequency, incidence of infectious disease, and extreme temperatures in each country – to examine whether they might account for any shifts in individualism over time. Overall, the results showed a clear pattern: Both individualistic practices and values increased across the globe over time. Specifically, statistical models indicated that individualism has increased by about 12% worldwide since 1960.