COMPARISON OF JAPANESE AND AMERICAN-COLLEGE STUDENTS ON COLLECTIVISM AND SOCIAL-CONTEXT OF DECISION-MAKING

American college students (n=63) scored higher an a Social Context Sca le of decision-making than Japanese students (n=50). The American stud ents also scored higher on the Collectivism Scale, but the difference was not significant. These findings were not expected and were discuss ed both in terms of American and Japanese societal characteristics and a new conceptualization of collectivism and individualism as not mutu ally exclusive so individualism may coexist within the parameters of a more pervasive collectivistic culture.