Sex, Age, and Cultural Differences in Individualism

Abstract

ABSTRACT Recent research has indicated that with age, children are decreasingly individualistic and that girls are more individualistic than boys. Previous research, however, has been based on very small numbers of children and/or small numbers of choice situations. The present investigation tested for sex, age, and cultural differences in individualism among 500 Anglo-American and Mexican-American children of 6 to 11 years. Children made choices on a large array of three-alternative choice cards which systematically varied the absolute gains, absolute advantages, relative gains, and relative losses associated with the individualistic alternative. There was a robust tendency for all children to avoid options that awarded more points to a peer than to themselves, and that tendency was greater among older compared to younger children. The expected sex difference in individualism was not observed, and the expected tendency for decreasing individualism with age was observed only among Anglo-Americans at the o...