Are Cultures Becoming Individualistic? A Cross-Temporal Comparison of Individualism–Collectivism in the United States and Japan

“Research suggests that effort is valued more in collectivistic societies than in individualistic societies, as it is seen as a key for goals valued in these societies, such as self-improvement and social harmony (Heine et al., 1999).”

“…pronoun drop, or whether the language of a society allows pronouns to be dropped (E. Kashima & Kashima, 1998), and the index of pathogen prevalence, or the extent to which disease-causing pathogens were prevalent in a society’s historical environment (Fincher et al., 2008; Murray & Schaller, 2010).”

“Both 36 This is just what researchers are finding: for example, in both the US and Japan, there has been a notable decrease in the extent to which individuals value social participation and children’s obedience (Hamamura 2012).”

“There is also evidence that although modernization triggers a series of changes in social structure and knowledge systems, a society's cultural heritage continues to influence its current orientation in an individualism–collectivism dimension (Hamamura, 2012).”

“…its conclusions, modernisation theory predicts the rise of individualism as a consequence of economic growth and this is supported by our findings of a possible shift to individualist thinking brought about by increased capital and savings associated with the feeling of empowerment (Hamamura 2012).”

“cultural orientations (Hamamura, 2012), it was anticipated that there would be”

“Thus we have seen apparently Western ideologies such as consumer capitalism finding fertile ground in many Asian countries; indeed, the ‘modernization’ theory of cultural change suggests a general global movement towards greater individualism (Hamamura, 2012).”

“While the SCPS renders these and other hypotheses testable, more cross-cultural research is needed on how social change perceptions relate to other broad social changes (Greenfield, 2009; Hamamura, 2012; Inglehart & Baker, 2000), future-oriented attitudes and behaviors (Bain et al.”

“Although Japanese is one of the cultures from the East, these findings may highlight changing moral concerns among the Japanese (Hamamura, 2012).”

“Even social orientation in general may be cohering less within cultures than it did previously: A societal-level analysis by Hamamura (2012) revealed an increase in collectivism in Japan in recent decades, but individualism, measured separately, simultaneously increased in both Japan and the U.S.”

“Subclinical narcissism is an especially prevalent research topic in personality psychology, receiving widespread scholarly and popular attention as cultures become more individualistic (Hamamura, 2012).”

“In terms of macro-social and -cultural indicators, researchers in the United States (Grossmann & Varnum, 2015), Japan (Hamamura, 2012), and China (Huang et al., 2016) have found that changes in divorce, single-living, and multi-generation cohabitation rates, as well as changes in family size, re fl…”

“…of social behavior and achievement motivation that occur in Generation Z show behavior with extreme individualistic values, where they tend to pursue individual personal goals, needs, and rights over others; individuals are motivated by their own goals without caring about others (Hamamura, 2012).”

“In the culture, the self is included as a part of an in-group and has a strong sense of connected-ness and interdependence (Guzley et al., 2009; Hamamura, 2012).”

“In Japan, a primarily collectivistic culture where autonomy is valued as low (Hamamura, 2012), only 7.7% of the community were found to be supportive of assisted dying (Ivo et al., 2012).”

“For example, Japanese attitudes toward child rearing have changed substantially from the 1950s, with an increasing stress on independence, whereas Japanese attitudes toward parents have not notably changed during the same period of time (Hamamura, 2012).”

“As a result of modernisation and rapid economic advancement (Hamamura, 2012), African societies are adopting individualism as opposed to collectivism or communitarianism.”

“However, Chinese culture is in a state of transition, with rising levels of individualism observed in recent years (especially among more affluent individuals; Hamamura, 2012; Hamamura, Xu, & Du, 2013; Hamamura & Xu, 2015).”

“…红 1,2 任孝鹏 1 (1 中国科学院心理研究所行为科学重点实验室, 北京 100101) (2 中国科学院大学, 北京 100039) 摘 要 个体主义作为一个重要的文化维度, 是指强调注重自我的独立性、重视个人目标和成就的价值取向。 个体主义的测量方法包括自我报告、启动法以及心外之物的客观指标测量。近来气候—经济理论和病原体假 说等新的影响个体主义的因素被证实。个体主义不仅存在着文化之间差异, 同时也存在着同一文化内部的地 区(州、省)差异。另外, 从纵向的角度利用大数据和客观指标发现,…”

“However, cultural identities are increasingly fluid, with hybrid orientations emerging due to globalization, urbanization, and exposure to diverse cultural norms (Hamamura, 2012).”

“As increasing individualism and decreasing collectivism have become a cultural and psychological change around the globe in recent years (Hamamura, 2012; Manago, 2014), many eastern countries supporting collectivism also experienced a variety in individualism–collectivism (Kashima et al., 2009,…”

“Although Japan is historically a collectivistic culture, our results supported the claim that there is a culture shift toward increasing independence in current Japanese society (Hamamura, 2012; Ogihara, 2017).”

“Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of this research is the persistence of collectivism in Japan’ (Hamamura 2011, pp.14 & 16).”

“The unsettled nature of individualism in contemporary Japanese people continues to be debated in the recent literature (e.g., Hamamura, 2012; Ogihara et al., 2015; Ogihara & Uchida, 2014; Ogihara, Uchida & Kusumi, 2014).”

“In Japan, where collectivism and social harmony are emphasized (Hamamura, 2011), it is possible that conformity influences the relationship between the descriptive norm and the actual behavior.”

“Japan's rapid individualization over recent decades (Hamamura, 2012) coincides with neoliberal economic reforms intensifying market competition and privatization (Taniguchi & Kaufman, 2019).”

“It is already known that it has a limited reach (Hamamura, 2012; Peterson & Stewart, 2020).”

“Individualistic cultures predominantly emphasize independence and personal goals (Hamamura, 2012).”

“A further illustration of this point, a cross-temporal Kafetsios 241 analysis of individualism and collectivism in Japan and the United States since 1950, observed an increase in indicators of individualism in both cultures but did not observe a similar drop in collectivism, which remained stable, especially in Japan…”

“In doing so, polyculturalism acknowledges that globalization challenges local cultural practices, values, and beliefs by enhancing exchanges across communities that are not treated as equal partners (Hamamura, 2012).”

“As we have seen, fortunately, some psychologists already seemed to be searching for a way of solving some issues exposed (Chen et al., 2015; Fiske, 2003; Hamamura, 2012; Morling & Lamoreaux, 2008; Santos et al., 2017).”

“All of the above are showing that loneliness is a feeling that can influence health to a great extent and needs to be taken into account for both prevention and treatment purposes, especially when considering that several societies tend to become more individualistic than collective [13].”

“In addition, previous cross-cultural research (e.g., Hamamura, 2012; Tas fi liz et al., 2018; Yamagashi et al., 1998; Yamagishi & Yamagishi, 1994) included data from particular countries (e.g., the USA and Japan), as if those societies were prototypical representations of individualism and…”

“However, cultural values and parenting priorities shift over time (Hamamura, 2012; Park & Lau, 2016).”

“Another group of studies focused on the evolution of value shifts from traditional col‑ lectivism to individualism with ecological changes in societies over time (Greenfield 2009; Grossmann and Varnum 2015; Hamamura 2012; Ogihara 2017b, a; Santos et al.”

“In collectivist societies like China, the fear of academic failure is heightened, making resilience a crucial resource for coping with stress and maintaining mental health (Chen & Lu, 2022; Hamamura, 2012).”

“For White American students, there is a pronounced focus on individual goals, achievement, and success (Hamamura, 2012), with reading amount recognized as a fundamental element of both educational attainment and personal growth.”

“…potentially outdated state-level collectivism index (Vandello and Cohen, 1999) used, given changing societal dynamics (Grossmann and Varnum, 2015; Hamamura, 2012; Jackson et al., 2019; Twenge et al., 2013), and the variability in collectivism across U.S. states may be insufficient to elicit the…”

“Japan is often described as having a sham-based-culture where shame is used to achieve social control [18].”

“A third possible explanation for why contract workers do not speak up relates to the collectivist nature of Japanese society (see for example, Takano and Osaka 1999; Hamamura 2012).”

“Previous studies have claimed that East Asian culture is changing to individualism (B. Cho et al., 1999; Hamamura, 2012; Zhang, 2010).”

“Likewise, Hamamura (2012) provided support for the idea that individualism has been increasing in Japanese culture.”

“Furthermore, the value-unethicality link we found may reflect the rise of highly competitive and market-driven economies worldwide (Gwartney et al., 2022) that is independent of a society’s cultural heritage and norms (Hamamura, 2012).”

“…values can be explained by cultural heritage theory, which states that traditional values can be inherited and persist in contemporary society, even during recent modern socioeconomic transformations, as society’s cultural heritage has long-lasting effects (Hamamura, 2012; Inglehart & Baker, 2000).”

“Love languages such as"words of affirmation"and"quality time"may hold greater significance in individualistic settings, as they align with the cultural emphasis on personal connection and emotional bonding [16].”

“…on a social projection account of trust, which suggests a self-referential process of trust judgment in which individuals infer others’ trustworthiness by using their own cooperativeness/trustworthiness as a reference (Krueger & Acevedo, 2005; Krueger et al., 2008, 2012 ; Thielmann & Hilbig, 2014).”

“Thus, consistent with modernization theory, which empha - sizes the link between individualism and societal modern - ization (Hamamura, 2012 ), evidence supports the rise of modernity in China as accompanied by economic growth, with an exception noted by Santos et al. ( 2017).”

“Cultural patterns can persist for centuries or undergo significant changes within just a few decades [1].”

“…commitments of Western and East Asian philosophical traditions may belie even more fundamental differences in perception between these communities (Hamamura 2012, Nisbett and Masuda 2003, Nisbett 2003, Nisbett et al. 2001, Ueda and Komiya 2012, K. Wang et al. 2014, Z.-D. Wang et al. 2022).”

“Individualism is a positive predictor of entrepreneurial intention (Li n et al. , 2016) and the United States is generally considered to be one of the world’s most individualistic countries (Hamamura, 2012).”

“Additionally, culture becomes more individualistic with economic growth and over time (Hamamura, 2012).”

“Individualistic value is on the rise in many countries (Santos et al., 2017), including China (Beugelsdijk & Welzel, 2018; Hamamura, 2012; Cai et al., 2020).”

“However, according to modernization theory and empirical results, society has undergone increasingly individualistic cross-temporal changes (Hamamura, 2012).”