Within-Culture Variations of Collectivism in Japan

Modeling after Vandello and Cohen’s American Collectivism Index, the researcher developed a scale to measure collectivism in prefectures (similar to U.S. states) in Japan. The new scale was evaluated against results from the Japanese General Social Survey, a national survey of individuals conducted annually, and was tested for association with common correlates of cultural syndromes. As expected, the Japanese Collectivism Scale (JCS) was reliable and was significantly associated with results of the individual-level attitudinal survey and the correlates of collectivism. The JCS also showed within-culture variations of collectivism in Japan—variations that are important to consider when interpreting cross-cultural differences in attitudes and behavior.