Normativeness and individualism

Five experiments were conducted with a twofold aim: firstly, examine the normativeness of some important features of Western individualism, and secondly, determine what aspect of social value serves as the anchor for their potential normativeness. Five key constituents of individualism were studied. A questionnaire composed of five sub-questionnaires was used, each one referring to an ‘individualistic’ constituent and to its opposing ‘collectivistic’ referent. Two main paradigms in the judgment-norm approach were implemented, one implying self-presentation strategies and the other implying social judgments. Together, the results revealed that only three constituents of individualism can be considered normative—self-sufficiency, individual anchoring, and internality—and that one of the constituents—the primacy of individual goals—is not normative at all, and may be even counter-normative. The results pointed out an individualistic pattern that is much less homogeneous than often assumed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.