Contextualism as an important facet of individualism-collectivism: Personhood beliefs across 37 national groups

Ellinor Owe; Vivian L. Vignoles; Maja Becker; Rupert Brown; Peter B. Smith; Spike W.S. Lee; Matt Easterbrook; Tanuja Gadre; Xiao Zhang; Mirona Gheorghiu; Peter Baguma; Alexander Tatarko; Said Aldhafri; Martina Zinkeng; Seth J. Schwartz; Sabrina E. Des Rosiers; Juan A. Villamar; Kassahun Habtamu Mekonnen; Camillo Regalia; Claudia Manzi; Maria Brambilla; Ersin Kusdil; Selinay Çaǧlar; Alin Gavreliuc; Mariana Martin; Zhang Jianxin; Shaobo Lv; Ronald Fischer; Taciano L. Milfont; Ana Torres; Leoncio Camino; Robert Kreuzbauer; Nicolay Gausel; Johanna H. Buitendach; Flávia Cristina Silveira Lemos; Immo Fritsche; Bettina Möller; Charles Harb; Aune Valk; Agustín Espinosa; Jas Laile Jaafar; Masaki Yuki; M. Cristina Ferreira; Phatthanakit Chobthamkit; Márta Fülöp; Aneta Chybicka; Qian Wang; Michael Harris Bond; Roberto González; Ragna B. Gardarsdóttir

doi:10.1177/0022022111430255

Contextualism as an important facet of individualism-collectivism: Personhood beliefs across 37 national groups

Ellinor Owe
, Vivian L. Vignoles
, Maja Becker
, Rupert Brown
, Peter B. Smith
, Spike W.S. Lee
, Matt Easterbrook
, Tanuja Gadre
, Xiao Zhang
, Mirona Gheorghiu
, Peter Baguma
, Alexander Tatarko
, Said Aldhafri
, Martina Zinkeng
, Seth J. Schwartz
, Sabrina E. Des Rosiers
, Juan A. Villamar
, Kassahun Habtamu Mekonnen
, Camillo Regalia
, Claudia Manzi

Maria Brambilla, Ersin Kusdil, Selinay Çaǧlar, Alin Gavreliuc, Mariana Martin, Zhang Jianxin, Shaobo Lv, Ronald Fischer, Taciano L. Milfont, Ana Torres, Leoncio Camino, Robert Kreuzbauer, Nicolay Gausel, Johanna H. Buitendach, Flávia Cristina Silveira Lemos, Immo Fritsche, Bettina Möller, Charles Harb, Aune Valk, Agustín Espinosa, Jas Laile Jaafar, Masaki Yuki, M. Cristina Ferreira, Phatthanakit Chobthamkit, Márta Fülöp, Aneta Chybicka, Qian Wang, Michael Harris Bond, Roberto González, Ragna B. Gardarsdóttir

Faculty of Psychology

University of Iceland

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Beliefs about personhood are understood to be a defining feature of individualism-collectivism (I-C), but they have been insufficiently explored, given the emphasis of research on values and self-construals. We propose the construct of contextualism, referring to beliefs about the importance of context in understanding people, as a facet of cultural collectivism. A brief measure was developed and refined across 19 nations (Study 1: N = 5,241), showing good psychometric properties for cross-cultural use and correlating well at the nation level with other supposed facets and indicators of I-C. In Study 2 (N = 8,652), nation-level contextualism predicted ingroup favoritism, corruption, and differential trust of ingroup and outgroup members, while controlling for other facets of I-C, across 35 nations. We conclude that contextualism is an important part of cultural collectivism. This highlights the importance of beliefs alongside values and self-representations and contributes to a wider understanding of cultural processes.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	24-45
Number of pages	22
Journal	Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology
Volume	44
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022111430255
Publication status	Published - Jan 2013

Bibliographical note

Funding Information: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by a doctoral studentship (grant reference: ES/G015074/1) awarded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC, UK) to the first author and an ESRC grant to the second and forth authors under grant to the second and forth authors number RES-062-23-1300.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities
SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production
SDG 13 Climate Action

Other keywords

cross-cultural differences
individualism-collectivism
measurement invariance
personhood beliefs

Access to Document

10.1177/0022022111430255

Cite this

Owe, E., Vignoles, V. L., Becker, M., Brown, R., Smith, P. B., Lee, S. W. S., Easterbrook, M., Gadre, T., Zhang, X., Gheorghiu, M., Baguma, P., Tatarko, A., Aldhafri, S., Zinkeng, M., Schwartz, S. J., Des Rosiers, S. E., Villamar, J. A., Mekonnen, K. H., Regalia, C., ... Gardarsdóttir, R. B. (2013). Contextualism as an important facet of individualism-collectivism: Personhood beliefs across 37 national groups. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 44(1), 24-45. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022111430255

@article{d19dab95c3cc46cdb25e9fd14aee5247,

title = "Contextualism as an important facet of individualism-collectivism: Personhood beliefs across 37 national groups",

abstract = "Beliefs about personhood are understood to be a defining feature of individualism-collectivism (I-C), but they have been insufficiently explored, given the emphasis of research on values and self-construals. We propose the construct of contextualism, referring to beliefs about the importance of context in understanding people, as a facet of cultural collectivism. A brief measure was developed and refined across 19 nations (Study 1: N = 5,241), showing good psychometric properties for cross-cultural use and correlating well at the nation level with other supposed facets and indicators of I-C. In Study 2 (N = 8,652), nation-level contextualism predicted ingroup favoritism, corruption, and differential trust of ingroup and outgroup members, while controlling for other facets of I-C, across 35 nations. We conclude that contextualism is an important part of cultural collectivism. This highlights the importance of beliefs alongside values and self-representations and contributes to a wider understanding of cultural processes.",

keywords = "cross-cultural differences, individualism-collectivism, measurement invariance, personhood beliefs",

author = "Ellinor Owe and Vignoles, \{Vivian L.\} and Maja Becker and Rupert Brown and Smith, \{Peter B.\} and Lee, \{Spike W.S.\} and Matt Easterbrook and Tanuja Gadre and Xiao Zhang and Mirona Gheorghiu and Peter Baguma and Alexander Tatarko and Said Aldhafri and Martina Zinkeng and Schwartz, \{Seth J.\} and \{Des Rosiers\}, \{Sabrina E.\} and Villamar, \{Juan A.\} and Mekonnen, \{Kassahun Habtamu\} and Camillo Regalia and Claudia Manzi and Maria Brambilla and Ersin Kusdil and Selinay {\c C}aǧlar and Alin Gavreliuc and Mariana Martin and Zhang Jianxin and Shaobo Lv and Ronald Fischer and Milfont, \{Taciano L.\} and Ana Torres and Leoncio Camino and Robert Kreuzbauer and Nicolay Gausel and Buitendach, \{Johanna H.\} and Lemos, \{Fl{\'a}via Cristina Silveira\} and Immo Fritsche and Bettina M{\"o}ller and Charles Harb and Aune Valk and Agust{\'i}n Espinosa and Jaafar, \{Jas Laile\} and Masaki Yuki and Ferreira, \{M. Cristina\} and Phatthanakit Chobthamkit and M{\'a}rta F{\"u}l{\"o}p and Aneta Chybicka and Qian Wang and Bond, \{Michael Harris\} and Roberto Gonz{\'a}lez and Gardarsd{\'o}ttir, \{Ragna B.\}",

note = "Funding Information: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by a doctoral studentship (grant reference: ES/G015074/1) awarded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC, UK) to the first author and an ESRC grant to the second and forth authors under grant to the second and forth authors number RES-062-23-1300.",

year = "2013",

month = jan,

doi = "10.1177/0022022111430255",

language = "English",

volume = "44",

pages = "24--45",

journal = "Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology",

issn = "0022-0221",

publisher = "SAGE Publications Inc.",

number = "1",

}

Owe, E, Vignoles, VL, Becker, M, Brown, R, Smith, PB, Lee, SWS, Easterbrook, M, Gadre, T, Zhang, X, Gheorghiu, M, Baguma, P, Tatarko, A, Aldhafri, S, Zinkeng, M, Schwartz, SJ, Des Rosiers, SE, Villamar, JA, Mekonnen, KH, Regalia, C, Manzi, C, Brambilla, M, Kusdil, E, Çaǧlar, S, Gavreliuc, A, Martin, M, Jianxin, Z, Lv, S, Fischer, R, Milfont, TL, Torres, A, Camino, L, Kreuzbauer, R, Gausel, N, Buitendach, JH, Lemos, FCS, Fritsche, I, Möller, B, Harb, C, Valk, A, Espinosa, A, Jaafar, JL, Yuki, M, Ferreira, MC, Chobthamkit, P, Fülöp, M, Chybicka, A, Wang, Q, Bond, MH, González, R & Gardarsdóttir, RB 2013, 'Contextualism as an important facet of individualism-collectivism: Personhood beliefs across 37 national groups', Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, vol. 44, no. 1, pp. 24-45. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022111430255

TY - JOUR

T1 - Contextualism as an important facet of individualism-collectivism

T2 - Personhood beliefs across 37 national groups

AU - Owe, Ellinor

AU - Vignoles, Vivian L.

AU - Becker, Maja

AU - Brown, Rupert

AU - Smith, Peter B.

AU - Lee, Spike W.S.

AU - Easterbrook, Matt

AU - Gadre, Tanuja

AU - Zhang, Xiao

AU - Gheorghiu, Mirona

AU - Baguma, Peter

AU - Tatarko, Alexander

AU - Aldhafri, Said

AU - Zinkeng, Martina

AU - Schwartz, Seth J.

AU - Des Rosiers, Sabrina E.

AU - Villamar, Juan A.

AU - Mekonnen, Kassahun Habtamu

AU - Regalia, Camillo

AU - Manzi, Claudia

AU - Brambilla, Maria

AU - Kusdil, Ersin

AU - Çaǧlar, Selinay

AU - Gavreliuc, Alin

AU - Martin, Mariana

AU - Jianxin, Zhang

AU - Lv, Shaobo

AU - Fischer, Ronald

AU - Milfont, Taciano L.

AU - Torres, Ana

AU - Camino, Leoncio

AU - Kreuzbauer, Robert

AU - Gausel, Nicolay

AU - Buitendach, Johanna H.

AU - Lemos, Flávia Cristina Silveira

AU - Fritsche, Immo

AU - Möller, Bettina

AU - Harb, Charles

AU - Valk, Aune

AU - Espinosa, Agustín

AU - Jaafar, Jas Laile

AU - Yuki, Masaki

AU - Ferreira, M. Cristina

AU - Chobthamkit, Phatthanakit

AU - Fülöp, Márta

AU - Chybicka, Aneta

AU - Wang, Qian

AU - Bond, Michael Harris

AU - González, Roberto

AU - Gardarsdóttir, Ragna B.

N1 - Funding Information: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by a doctoral studentship (grant reference: ES/G015074/1) awarded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC, UK) to the first author and an ESRC grant to the second and forth authors under grant to the second and forth authors number RES-062-23-1300.

PY - 2013/1

Y1 - 2013/1

N2 - Beliefs about personhood are understood to be a defining feature of individualism-collectivism (I-C), but they have been insufficiently explored, given the emphasis of research on values and self-construals. We propose the construct of contextualism, referring to beliefs about the importance of context in understanding people, as a facet of cultural collectivism. A brief measure was developed and refined across 19 nations (Study 1: N = 5,241), showing good psychometric properties for cross-cultural use and correlating well at the nation level with other supposed facets and indicators of I-C. In Study 2 (N = 8,652), nation-level contextualism predicted ingroup favoritism, corruption, and differential trust of ingroup and outgroup members, while controlling for other facets of I-C, across 35 nations. We conclude that contextualism is an important part of cultural collectivism. This highlights the importance of beliefs alongside values and self-representations and contributes to a wider understanding of cultural processes.

AB - Beliefs about personhood are understood to be a defining feature of individualism-collectivism (I-C), but they have been insufficiently explored, given the emphasis of research on values and self-construals. We propose the construct of contextualism, referring to beliefs about the importance of context in understanding people, as a facet of cultural collectivism. A brief measure was developed and refined across 19 nations (Study 1: N = 5,241), showing good psychometric properties for cross-cultural use and correlating well at the nation level with other supposed facets and indicators of I-C. In Study 2 (N = 8,652), nation-level contextualism predicted ingroup favoritism, corruption, and differential trust of ingroup and outgroup members, while controlling for other facets of I-C, across 35 nations. We conclude that contextualism is an important part of cultural collectivism. This highlights the importance of beliefs alongside values and self-representations and contributes to a wider understanding of cultural processes.

KW - cross-cultural differences

KW - individualism-collectivism

KW - measurement invariance

KW - personhood beliefs

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84870991829

U2 - 10.1177/0022022111430255

DO - 10.1177/0022022111430255

M3 - Article

SN - 0022-0221

VL - 44

SP - 24

EP - 45

JO - Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology

JF - Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology

IS - 1

ER -

Contextualism as an important facet of individualism-collectivism: Personhood beliefs across 37 national groups

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Other keywords

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