Key Dimensions and Validity of the Chinese Version of the Individualism-Collectivism Scale

Abstract

A Chinese version of the Individualism-Collectivism Scale (ICS) to assess cultural dimensions was developed and its psychometric properties were evaluated. The English version of the ICS was translated and back translated prior to its administration to 1760 participants who were divided into 5 age groups. Results indicated that the ICS-C exhibited moderate to high internal consistency with Cronbach’s alpha coefficients ranging from 0.64 to 0.83. The ICS-C also exhibited strong test-retest reliability with ICCs from 0.45 to 0.80. Confirmatory factor Analyses found the four-factor model was the best fit of the data across gender and age, thus supporting the multi-dimensional perspective of horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism. Furthermore, a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) revealed a significant main effect of age and gender. A gradual increase is present in subjective perception of societal emphasis on the cultural dimensions across five age groups, except age groups of 14 - 15 and 16 - 17 in vertical individualism. With respect to gender effect, female students showed a higher perception of the vertical collectivism than male students (p < 0.05). Thus, the results revealed that sufficient support for the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of ICS.


Share and Cite:

Huang, R., Yao, S., Y., Abela, J., Leibovitch, F. & Liu, M. (2013). Key Dimensions and Validity of the Chinese Version of the Individualism-Collectivism Scale. Chinese Studies, 2, 1-7. doi: 10.4236/chnstd.2013.21001.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1] Aaron, C., & Anat, A. (2006). The relationship between individualism, collectivism, the perception of justice, demographic characteristics and organizational citizenship behavior. The Service Industries Journal, 8, 889-901.
[2] Anthony, K., Rosselli, F., & Caparyan, L. (2003). Truly evil or simply angry: Individualism, collectivism, and attributions for the events of September 11th. Individual Differences Research, 2, 147-157.
[3] Bollen, K. A. (1989). Structural equations with latent variables. New York: Wiley.
[4] Browne, M. W., & Cudeck, R. (1993). Alternative ways of assessing model fit. In Bollen, K. A., & Long, J. S. (Eds.), Testing structural equation models (pp. 136-162).Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
[5] Charles, W. E. (2010). The conflict between individualism and collectivism in a democracy: Three lectures. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia, Barbour-Page Foundation, Biblio Life Press.
[6] Chiou, J. S. (2001). Horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism among college students in the United States, Taiwan and Argentina. The Journal of Social Psychology, 5, 667-678.
doi:10.1080/00224540109600580
[7] Chiu, C.-Y. (1999). Normative expectations of social behavior and concern for members of the collective in Chinese society. The Journal of Psychology, 1, 103-111.
[8] Duan, C. M., Wei, M. F., & Wang, L. Z. (2008). The role of individualism-collectivism in empathy: An exploratory study. Asian Journal of Counseling, 1, 57-81.
[9] Fauziah, N., & Kamarnzaman, J.(2010). Individualism-collectivism and job satisfaction between Malaysia and Australia. International of Educational Managemen, 2, 159-174.
[10] Freeman, M. A., & Bordia, P. (2001). Assessing alternative models of individualism and collectivism: A confirmatory factor analysis. European Journal of Personality, 15, 105-121. doi:10.1002/per.398
[11] Gouveia, V. V., Clemente, M., & Espinosa, P. (2003). The horizontal and vertical attributes of individualism and collectivism in a Spanish population. The Journal of Social Psychology, 1, 43-63.
doi:10.1080/00224540309598430
[12] Hofstede, G. (1984). Culture’s consequences: International differences in work-related values. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
[13] Kagitçibasi, Ç. (1987). Individual and group loyalties: Are they compatible? In Ç. Kagitçibasi (Ed.), Growth and progress in cross-cultural psychology (pp. 94-103). Lisse: Swets & Zeitlinger.
[14] Kasser, T., & Ryan, R. M. (1993). A dark side of the American dream: Correlates of financial success as a central lie aspiration. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 410-422. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.65.2.410
[15] Landis, J., & Koch, G. (1977). The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. Biometrics, 33, 159-174.
[16] Nachiketa, T., Sonia, N., Marija, M., Lidtja, R., & Jezdimir, Z.(2010). Assertiveness and personality: Cross-cultural difference in Indian and Serbian male students. Psychological Student, 55, 1-9.
[17] Oppenheimer, L. (2004). Perception of individualism and collectivism in Dutch society: A developmental approach. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 4, 336-346. doi:10.1080/01650250444000009
[18] Shrout, P., & Fleiss, J. (1979). Intraclass correlations: Uses in assessing rater reliability. Psychological Bull, 86, 420-428. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.86.2.420
[19] Singelis, T. M. (1994). The measurement of independent and interdependent self-construals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 20, 580-591. doi:10.1177/0146167294205014
[20] Singelis, T. M., Triandis, H. C., Bhawuk, D. P. S., & Gelfand, M. J. (1995). Horizontal and vertical dimensions of individualism and collectivism: A theoretical and measurement refinement. Cross-Cultural Research, 3, 240-275. doi:10.1177/106939719502900302
[21] Strunk, D. R., & Chang, E. C. (1999). Distinguishing between fundamental dimensions of individualism-collectivism: Relations to socio- political attitudes and beliefs. Personality and Individual Differences, 27, 665-671. doi:10.1016/S0191-8869(98)00258-X
[22] Thao N. L., & Gary, D. S. (2005). Individualism, collectivism and delinquency in Asian American adolescents. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 4, 681-691.
[23] Triandis, H. C. (1996). Cultural syndromes. American Psychologist, 4, 407-415.
[24] Triandis, H. C. (2001). Individualism-collectivism and personality. Journal of Personality, 6, 907-924.
[25] Triandis, H. C., & Gelfand, M. J. (1998). Converging measurement of horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1, 118-128.
[26] Valsiner, J. (1998). The guide mind. A sociogenetic approach to personality. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
[27] Valsiner, J., Branco, A. U., & Melo Dants, C., (1997). Co-construction of human development: Heterogeneity within parental belief orienta- tions. In J. E. Grusec, & L. Kuczynski (Eds.), Parenting and children’s internalization of values (pp. 283-304). New York: Wiley.
[28] Voronov, M., & Singer, J. A. (2002). The myth of individualism-collectivism: A critical review. The Journal of Social Psychology, 4, 461-480.

Copyright © 2024 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc.

Creative Commons License

This work and the related PDF file are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.