Thesis (Ph. D.)--Northeastern University, 2008. / Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Psychology. Includes bibliographical references (p. 102-117).

Care for old people is a particular concern in ageing societies. In Taiwan, traditional collective cultures encourage collective practice, including informal family care of elderly people. However, social change is modifying traditional values and behaviours, leading some commentators identify a western style of individualism on this change. This thesis explores how Taiwanese young adult grandchildren and their grandparents interpret ’collectivism’ and ‘individualism’ and think about or draw on these value systems in familial interactions. This was achieved through in-depth individual interviews with 20 pairs of college-aged grandchildren and their grandparents living in different locations and family households. The research questions mainly focus on three areas. Firstly, how perceptions of the role, and the attached expectations of being a grandchild construct contemporary grandchildren’s understandings of their orientations to their families. Secondly, how grandchildren interpret traditional and what they understand imported individualistic value systems and how these operate on personal and family lives. Lastly, how the two generations, grandparents and grandchildren, perceive transformation of Taiwanese society and family, particularly their views of the effects of domestic-demographics and wider structural changes on the grandparent-grandchild relationship over time. How grandchildren viewed collectivism and individualism and reported their behaviours towards the grandparent generation was both as expected in terms of the results of previous research and contained some unexpected outcomes. According to the interviewees, being more individualistic is responsible for causing distance between family members, whereas possessing more collective perspectives encourages more communal considerations for common benefit. However, grandchild informants acknowledged benefits of individualistic concepts and use them to rationalise intergenerational flows that do not follow tradition, arguing that personal considerations themselves are able to contribute more collective practices. Interestingly, the expressed views of the grandchild generation reverse commonly perceived negative impacts of individualistic concepts on collective interests. Critically, the youth in Taiwan still regards themselves as being primarily guided by collective-based doctrines, by indicating how traditional Chinese values are still prioritised. Meanwhile, the concepts of individualism are placed as complementary principles by the grandchildren, although they and their grandparents had identified some negative effects of individualistic-led tendencies in their society and families.

Responses to norm violators are poorly understood. On one hand, norm violators are perceived as powerful, which may help them to get ahead. On the other hand, norm violators evoke moral outrage, which may frustrate their upward social mobility. We addressed this paradox by considering the role of culture. Collectivistic cultures value group harmony and tight cultures value social order. We therefore hypothesized that collectivism and tightness moderate reactions to norm violators. We presented 2,369 participants in 19 countries with a norm violation or a norm adherence scenario. In individualistic cultures, norm violators were considered more powerful than norm abiders and evoked less moral outrage, whereas in collectivistic cultures, norm violators were considered less powerful and evoked more moral outrage. Moreover, respondents in tighter cultures expressed a stronger preference for norm followers as leaders. Cultural values thus influence responses to norm violators, which may have downstream consequences for violators' hierarchical positions.

abstract: Traditional autonomy within clinical supervision was reinterpreted by incorporating culturally-encompassing autonomy types (individuating and relating autonomy) from the dual autonomy scale. The relations of vertical collectivism and autonomy measures were examined. Lastly, potential moderating effects of vertical collectivism on experience level and autonomy were assessed. The sample consisted of 404 counseling trainees enrolled in graduate programs across the US, aged between 21 and 68. Results from the confirmatory factor analysis supported the proposed two-factor structure of individuating and relating autonomy among counseling trainees for the adapted dual autonomy scale. Results indicated that individuating autonomy was moderately correlated with relating and traditional autonomy, and relating autonomy was not correlated with traditional autonomy. Vertical collectivism was not correlated with relating autonomy, but significantly predicted individuating and traditional autonomy. Moderating effects of vertical collectivism on experience level and autonomy were not supported. Further implications and future directions are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Counseling Psychology 2020

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In Sweden, the labour movement historically had influenced both society and politics. In recent times, it is considered a change in society with a stronger employer party while the unions weakened by reduced unionisation. This study aims to highlight the presence of individualistic and collectivistic approaches to the labour market in relation to union density. The different approaches are investigated in the labour market by means of a quantitative survey. The study's survey items are workers in the timber industry. The study results indicate that the study's workers union level corresponding national average. The decline in union membership also includes the study workers. The study results also show that younger workers are less susceptible to join unions. The results do not reject the existence of individualistic approach, but demonstrates predominantly collectivistic approach among the study's workers. The study results can be understood from the trade organization's historically strong position in the industry. The employees' strong collective approach emphasizes the union's continued relevance to the labour market.

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The field of psychotherapy is not objective. Like any social construction, it is a product of the values of the culture in which it was developed. The theories and principles that form the cornerstones of Western psychotherapy reflect a number of Western ideals and biases, one of which is individualism. As such, it is important that we examine the impact that such a bias can have on clinical judgment, particularly since so many clients come from collectivist cultures, and since inaccurate clinical decisions that derive from flawed etiologies and character assessment can have such serious repercussions. / The following study investigates, both qualitatively and quantitatively, how this individualistic bias in Western psychotherapy influences the clinical judgment and inference-making process. Within a Repeated Measures design, 84 graduate students provided assessments of two different clinical vignettes that were each alternated to reflect a client with either individualist or collectivist values. All participants were also asked to provide qualitative assessments of the casefiles, and a total of seven participants discussed their clinical impressions in greater depth during two different focus groups that were conducted at a later date. The focus groups were organized around four broad-based themes that were intended to clarify the study's earlier findings, and shed light on the processes underlying participants' clinical assessments. / Results from this study suggest that clinicians do tend to view individualism as psychologically healthier than collectivism. While the findings indicate that clinicians tend to pathologize collectivism more in men than in women, factors other than gender also appear to interact with individualism-collectivism values to impact clinical assessment. Implications of these findings, as well as proposed directions for future research within the context of this study's limitations, are discussed.

Exploring the Relationships Between Individualism and Collectivism and Attitudes Towards Counselling Among Ethnic Chinese, Australian, and American University Students Compensating for reduced public funding, Australian and American universities actively recruit full-fee paying East Asian international students. University staff, aware of international students having difficulties coping with cultural and emotional issues, often encourage them to seek university counselling services. However, East Asian international students under-utilise Western universities’ counselling services. It has been argued that the Western concept of counselling reflects Western cultural values, in particular individualism. Thus the reluctance of international students from more collectivistic cultures to seek counselling services may in part be due to a clash of cultural values. Over a decade ago, Draguns hypothesised the existence of a relationship between Hofstede’s cultural dimensions of individualism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity, and their influence on individuals’ attitudes towards psychopathology and treatment modalities. The current study sought to offer empirical support for Draguns’ hypothesis as it related to individualism and power distance, and to attitudes towards counselling. In place of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, this study used the Triandis cultural concepts of vertical and horizontal individualism and collectivism. Using the Triandis Individualism Collectivism Scale (ICS) and the Tinsley Expectations about Counseling-Brief Form (EAC-B)questionnaire, the current study explores the relationship between levels of vertical and horizontal individualism and collectivism, and attitudes towards the roles of counsellors, the roles of clients, and the process and goals of counselling. The research is based on data collected from three cultural groups: ethnic Chinese international students attending Australian universities, and Australian and American university students enrolled in their home countries. This study is unusual in cross-cultural research owing to its use of the Rasch extended logistic model of modern item response theory (IRT) as a means of validating the data prior to standard statistical analysis. Whereas classical test theory emphasises the model fitting the data, the Rasch model of IRT requires that the data fit the model to be considered valid. Psychometric analysis of the ICS found its four scales separately fit the Rasch model quite well, as did three modified scales of the EAC-B. The IRT analysis also provided a means of identifying differential item functioning (DIF), that is, items functioning differently (demonstrating bias) among the three cultural groups. Using the EAC-B to collect pre and post-intervention data, the current study assessed the effectiveness of a videotape intervention as a means of changing within and between-group attitudes towards counselling. It was anticipated that ethnic Chinese participants, representing the group with the least familiarity with counselling, would show the greatest change in counselling attitudes as a result of the intervention. Americans were expected to show the least change, and Australian participants to be in the middle position. Based on the findings, the intervention did not significantly alter the participants’ attitudes towards counselling regardless of their cultural background. Overall, the intervention served to strengthen existing attitudes. Lastly as a means of gaining a deeper understanding of the quantitative findings, the study collected qualitative data from the participants and from university counsellors. These findings indicated that there was a general lack of knowledge about university counselling services even among those participants who were familiar with counselling as a concept. Participants, in general, expressed reservations about seeking counselling due to concerns of being seen by friends. This was particularly true for the Chinese. Chinese participants also expressed scepticism towards a non-Chinese counsellor’s ability to understand their problems. In reference to Draguns’ hypothesis, overall the findings from this study supported his model. The findings indicated that individuals endorsing collectivistic attitudes expressed a strong preference for counsellors who were direct, expert-like, and helped clients seek concrete solutions to their problems. The study also found that an individual’s expressions of cultural dimensions, such as vertical collectivism, were better predictors of counsellor preference than an individual’s cultural background. These findings have implications for university policy makers who are responsible for ensuring the existence of an infrastructure capable of meeting the needs of the international students they so actively recruit. This would include appropriate funding for an adequate and diverse counselling staff extending itself to the university community. There are also implications for counsellor education programs in recognising the link between cultural variables and client expectations.

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Auburn University, 2005. / Abstract. Includes bibliographic references (p.99-113).