The concepts of individual, self, and group in Japanese National, Japanese-American, and European-American samples: A semantic differential analysis

This study empirically investigated variations in the semantic/affective co nstruction of the concepts of "individual", "self", and "group" in individu alistic and collectivistic cultures. Data were collected on the semantic di fferential ratings for these concepts among 110 Japanese National (JN), 110 Japanese-American (JA), and 110 European-American (EA) university students . Compared to the other two samples, the JN sample rated the concept of "in dividual" as weaker and more fast, the concept of "self" as more fast, and the concept of "group" as more strong and more slow. It also was revealed t hat the JA samples's ratings of the three concepts tended to fall between t he JN and EA samples' ratings. Altogether, the findings offer further evide nce that the individualism-collectivism distinction has psychological impli cations and predictive power. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights res erved.