This study investigated the dimensionality of a 21-item questionnaire measure of idiocentrism-allocentrism (the within-culture measure of individualism-collectivism) within the context of Sri Lankan culture. A survey of 438 Sri Lankan respondents, sampled from a wide variety of demographic contexts, provided data. Factor analysis indicated that idiocentrism and allocentrism are two independent, unipolar factors, rather than opposite poles of a single, bipolar dimension. The implications are discussed in the context of existing and future cross-cultural (etic) and within-cultural (emic) research on individualism-collectivism.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BrislinR. W. (1970) Back-translation for cross-cultural research. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 1, 185–216.
2.
BrislinR. W. (1980) Translation and content analysis of oral and written materials. In TriandisH. C. & BerryJ. W. (Eds.), Handbook of cross-cultural psychology.Vol. 2. Methodology. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Pp. 389–444.
3.
BrislinR. W. (1988) The wording and translation of research instruments. In LonnerW. J. & BerryJ. W. (Eds.), Field methods in cross-cultural research.Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. Pp. 137–164.
4.
HoD. Y., & ChiuC. (1994) Component ideas of individualism, collectivism, and social organization. In KimU.TriandisH. C.KagitcibasiC.ChoiS. & YoonG. (Eds.), Individualism and collectivism: theory, method, and applications.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Pp. 137–156.
5.
HofstedeG. (1980) Culture's consequences.Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
6.
HofstedeG. (1991) Cultures and organizations: software of the mind.London: McGraw-Hill.
7.
HofstedeG. (1994) Foreword. In KimU.TriandisH. C.KagitcibasiC.ChoiS. & YoonG. (Eds.). Individualism and collectivism: theory, method, and applications.Thousand Oaks, CASage. Pp. Lx–xiii.
8.
HuiC. H. (1988) Measurement of individualism-collectivism. Journal of Research in Personality, 22. 17–36
9.
HuiC. H., & TriandisH. C. (1986) Individualism-collectivism: a study of cross-cultural researchers. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 17, 225–248.
10.
HuiC. H., & VillarealM. J. (1989) Individualism-collectivism and psychological needs: their relationship in two cultures. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 20, 310–323.
11.
KagitcibasiC. (1987) Individual and group loyalties: are they compatible? In KagitcibasiC. (Ed.), Growth and progress in cross-cultural psychology.Berwyn, IL: Swets North America. Pp. 94–103.
12.
KagitcibasiC. (1988) Why individualism/collectivism? In KeatsD. M.MunroD., & MannL. (Eds.), Heterogeneity in cross-cultural psychology.Berwyn, IL: Swets North America. Pp. 66–74.
13.
KagitcibasiC. (1994) A critical appraisal of individualism and collectivism. In KimU.TriandisH. C.KagitcibasiC.ChoiS. & YoonG. (Eds.), Individualism and collectivism: theory, method, and applications.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Pp. 52–65.
14.
KashimaY. (1986) Conceptions of person: implications in individualism-collectivism research. In KagitcibasiC. (Ed.), Growth and progress in cross-cultural psychology.Berwyn, IL: Swets. Pp. 104–112.
15.
KimU. (1994) Individualism and collectivism: conceptual clarification and elaboration. In KimU.TriandisH. C.KagitcibasiC.ChoiS. & YoonG. (Eds.), Individualism and collectivism: theory, method, and applications.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Pp. 19–40.
16.
LeungK. (1989) Cross-cultural differences: individual level vs. culture-level analysis. International Journal of Psychology, 24, 703–719.
17.
LeungK., & BondM. H. (1989) On the empirical identification of dimensions for cross-cultural comparison. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 20, 133–151.
18.
MishraR. (1994) Individualist and collectivist orientations across generations. In KimU.TriandisH. C.KagitcibasiC.ChoiS. & YoonG. (Eds.), Individualism and collectivism: theory, method, and applications.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Pp. 225–238.
19.
MoghaddamF. (1987) Psychology in the three worlds. American Psychologist, 42, 912–920.
20.
ReykowskiJ. (1994) Collectivism and individualism as dimensions of social change. In KimU.TriandisH. C.KagitcibasiC.ChoiS. & YoonG. (Eds.), Individualism and collectivism: theory, method, and applications.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Pp. 276–292.
21.
SchwartzS. H. (1990) Individualism-collectivism: critique and proposed refinements. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 21, 139–157.
22.
SchwartzS. H. (1992) Universals in the content and structure of values: theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries. In ZannaM. P. (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology, 25.San Diego, CA: Academic Press. Pp. 1–65.
23.
SchwartzS. H. (1994) Beyond individualism/collectivism: new cultural dimensions of values. In KimU.TriandisH. C.KagitcibasiC.ChoiS. & YoonG. (Eds.), Individualism and collectivism: theory, method, and applications.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Pp. 85–122.
24.
SingelisT. M. (1994) The measurement of independent and interdependent self-construals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 20, 580–591.
25.
SinhaD., & TripathiR. C. (1994) Individualism in a collectivist culture. In KimU.TriandisH. C.KagitcibasiC.ChoiS. & YoonG. (Eds.), Individualism and collectivism: theory, method, and applications.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Pp. 123–138.
26.
TriandisH. C. (1988) Collectivism v individualism: a reconceptualization of a basic concept in cross-cultural social psychology. In BagleyC. & VermaG. K. (Eds.), Personality, cognition, and values.London: Macmillan Pp. 60–95.
27.
TriandisH. C. (1989a) Cross-cultural studies of individualism and collectivism. In BermanJ. J. (Ed.), Nebraska symposium on motivation: cross-cultural perspectives.Lincoln, NE: Univer. of Nebraska Press. Pp. 41–133.
28.
TriandisH. C. (1989b) The self and social behavior in differing cultural contexts. Psychological Review, 96, 506–520.
29.
TriandisH. C. (1994) Theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of collectivism and individualism. In KimU.TriandisH. C.KagitcibasiC.ChoiS. & YoonG. (Eds.), Individualism and collectivism: theory, method, and applications.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Pp. 41–51.
30.
TriandisH. C.BontempoR.BetancourtH.BondM.LeungK.BrenesA.GeorgasJ.HuiC. H.MarinG.SetiadiB.SinhaJ. B. P.VermaJ.SprangenbergJ.TouzardH., & de MontmollinG. (1986) The measurement of the etic aspect of individualism and collectivism across cultures. Australian Journal of Psychology, 38, 257–267.
31.
TriandisH. C.BontempoR.VillarealM. J.AsaiM., & LuccaN. (1988) Individualism and collectivism: cross-cultural perspectives on self-ingroup relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 323–338.
32.
TriandisH. C.LeungK.VillarealM. J., & ClackF. (1985) Allocentric vs. idiocentric tendencies: convergent and discriminant validation. Journal of Research in Personality, 19, 395–415.
33.
TriandisH. C.McCuskerC.BetancourtH.IwaoS.LeungK.SalazarJ. M.SetiadiB.SinhaJ. B. P.TouzardH., & ZaleskiZ. (1993) An etic-emic analysis of individualism and collectivism. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 24, 366–383.
34.
TriandisH. C.McCuskerC., & HuiC. H. (1990) Multimethod probes of individualism and collectivism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 1006–1020.
35.
United Nations Development Programme. (1994) Human development report 1990.New York: Oxford Univer. Press.
