Examining Individualism, Collectivism, and Self-Differentiation in African American College Women

This study examined aspects of individualism, collectivism, and self-differentiation in 123 African American women attending a predominantly White university. Specifically, the study explored the relationship between Triandis's (1995) model of horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism, and four self-differentiation constructs (i.e., emotional reactivity, I-position, emotional cutoff, and fusion with others) proposed by Skowron and Friedlander (1998). Results revealed that aspects of individualism and collectivism were differentially related to self-differentiation in African American college women. Implications of the findings are discussed.