Collectivism Research Articles

Investigating the Relationships between the Components of Transformational Leadership and Job Performance: An Empirical Study

This paper aims to investigate the relationships between the components of transformational leadership (such as, idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration) and job performance in a collectivistic society. Transformational leadership components were measured by the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire 5X while job performance was assessed by Tsui et al.,'s Job Performance Scale. Data for this study were collected from 116 working MBA students who were asked to rate their managers' transformational leadership behavior and job performance studying at three private universities in Chittagong, a port city of Bangladesh, with the help of printed survey instruments. In data collection, this study used convenience sampling technique. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, bivariate correlation, and regression analysis. Results indicated a positive correlation between the components of transformational leadership and job performance. An important implication of the study is that managers should use their transformational leadership attributes to improve their own as well as subordinates' job performance. The most important limitation was to use the convenience samples that might limit the generalizability of the results. Future research directions are also discussed.

Periods of uncertainty: The experience of at-risk young adult Arabs during the transition to adulthood in the wake of COVID-19.

The ongoing COVID‐19 global health crisis has both short‐ and long‐term implications for the lives of young adults worldwide, especially young adults from vulnerable communities. The current exploratory study is the first, to our knowledge, that investigates the impact of the pandemic on the lives of at‐risk young adult Arabs, who are part of a national minority group in Israel. Twenty‐eight at‐risk young adults aged 18 to 25 participated in semistructured interviews regarding the experiences, challenges and barriers they faced as emerging adults during the pandemic. Grounded theory analysis and theoretical thematic analysis were used to analyse the interviews. Findings revealed that the pandemic and the policy decisions made in its wake influenced the young adults' lives in primary areas including their financial and occupational status, their social ties and social support networks, their relationships with their biological families and their future plans and goals. The study's findings shed light on the complex reality of at‐risk young adults during the pandemic and emphasize the increasing vulnerability of this cohort. The challenges they face as members of a collectivist society and of a national minority group are discussed. Implications for policy and practice highlight the need to increase these young adults' occupational and financial opportunities and to design holistic services that take into account their personal and sociocultural characteristics.

Students' self-determination in Azerbaijan

PurposeIt has been suggested that social impacts on young people are stronger in collectivistic societies than in individualistic societies due to stronger social norms. Therefore, the satisfaction of psychological needs might be more challenging for students in collectivistic societies. As Azerbaijani society is collectivistic, the purpose of this study was to explore the ways in which the need for the self-determination of Azerbaijani master's students is met in relation to their social circles.Design/methodology/approachForty-four Azerbaijani master's students were interviewed for this study, and their answers were analyzed from the perspective of basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness within self-determination theory (SDT).FindingsThe findings of the current study suggest that Azerbaijani students' social environment is not supportive of furthering higher education through achieving a master's degree, and in some cases, this negatively affects students' well-being. Families in Azerbaijan mainly view higher education as being employment focused due to experiences of employment insecurity in the country.Research limitations/implicationsThe participants of the current study were from middle- and low-income families in Azerbaijan, as the interviewer obtained basic information on the educational and occupational situations of participants' families in addition to the interviewees' own states. Perhaps due to financial needs, it was mainly found that families valued making money over long-term self-development aspirations in their children. Reaching larger numbers of participants, future studies may purposefully sample individuals from higher-income families to reveal whether families with fewer financial concerns were more autonomy-supportive in the aspirations by young people to further their education or how the pattern of their support varied due to socioeconomic status.Practical implicationsIt is hoped that the presented results may guide the relevant authorities in the regulation of the employment strategies of youth in Azerbaijan, as high levels of youth unemployment and massive shifts to self-employment and low-skilled occupations create few opportunities to realize self-development aspirations in Azerbaijan. More efficient policies should be implemented to improve recruitment to good-quality jobs and increase the value of skills and knowledge in employment.Social implicationsInterconnected cultural factors determine families' views of furthering education and affect how they satisfy the psychological needs of students in their education lives. It is anticipated that the present study will be useful for students mainly from developing countries in coping with their social environments in pursuing their self-development aspirations.Originality/valueUnlike previous studies, the authors suggest that through “gained autonomy”, Azerbaijani youth who comply with their elders when less experienced tend to gain control over their personal decisions by providing positive information about overseas experiences. The concept of “gained autonomy” also contributes to SDT in illustrating how members of collectivistic societies can attempt to satisfy their basic psychological needs.

Investigating the relationship between emotion regulation strategies and self‐efficacy beliefs among adolescents: Implications for academic achievement

AbstractThe present study sought to investigate the implications of emotion regulation strategies for academic achievement in adolescence. First, the relationship between various facets of emotion regulation strategies and self‐efficacy beliefs was investigated. Second, emotion regulation strategies were scrutinized in relation to academic achievement. Using a sample of middle school adolescents (N = 478; 181 female), from a collectivist society, the results of correlation analysis revealed positive and negative relationships between different facets of emotion regulation strategies and self‐efficacy beliefs. For instance, reappraisal (a positive emotion regulation strategy) was positively correlated with academic self‐efficacy, a critical facet for learning and academic achievement (r = .32, p < .01). Similarly, there were positive and negative correlations between emotion regulation strategies and academic achievement. Implications for both adolescents and schools are discussed.

Achievement Goal Orientation in Online Learning Is Performance Goal More Important Than Mastery Goal In Farmachy Student?

Online learning is still in effect until early 2022. Teachers, students and parents can feel the impact on the educational aspect. We examine students' learning motivation in achievement goal orientation during online learning. A total of 238 pharmacy students filled out the achievement goal orientation scale online. The results show no significant difference in the average of each orientation, including the approach and avoidance dimensions. Our findings illustrate how pharmacy students as part of a collectivist society affect student orientation in achievement goals. The results show that the average performance goal orientation is higher than the mastery goal orientation. The results of the dimensions are discussed in detail.

The Influence of Green Behaviour Using Theory of Planned Behaviour Approach: Evidence from Malaysia

The study focuses on the influence of green behaviour based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). A conceptual model has been developed from TPB with additional factors linking green behaviour. A quantitative research method has been adopted. The data is gathered from a survey which has been administered by distributing questionnaires to 280 green consumers in Kuala-Lumpur, Malaysia. The data has been processed vis-à-vis the assessment of measurement and structural model using SmartPLSver3.0. The study contributable examines the role of predictive factors and how it influences green behaviour. Perceived behavioural control (PBC) and attitude dimensions are included as suggested by TPB. The results show that attitude and green culture positively influence green behaviour in TPB; whereas, PBC and awareness show no influence. The study shows the path to translate green culture and attitude to validate the TPB model. While the findings on green culture conform earlier studies, and indicate for a mixed collectivist society like Malaysia; where people showcase their belief while embracing green behaviour. The study further provides an insight to policymakers on how to increase awareness and improve progressive pedagogy on green behaviour.

Attachment differences in psychological distress: The mediating roles of filial piety and mindfulness

Evidence for the role of attachment differences in psychological distress is accumulating. Culture may serve as an important influencing factor in this relationship, especially in collectivist societies. We examined the role of two cultural factors relevant to Taiwan: dual filial piety motivations and dispositional mindfulness. Specifically, we investigated whether the associations between attachment insecurities (attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance) and psychological distress (depression, anxiety, and stress) were mediated by dispositional mindfulness and filial piety among Taiwanese emerging adults. We expected that filial piety and dispositional mindfulness might jointly mediate the influence of attachment differences on an individual's level of psychological distress. In total, 302 emerging adults completed the survey questions. After controlling for the mediating effects of filial piety and dispositional mindfulness, attachment anxiety still directly predicts greater depression, anxiety, and perceived stress, but attachment avoidance does not predict psychological distress. Attachment anxiety indirectly predicts greater depression, anxiety, and perceived stress via the mediation of lower dispositional mindfulness, and attachment avoidance indirectly predicts higher depression via lower reciprocal filial piety and lower dispositional mindfulness. Interestingly, we note a negative relationship between attachment avoidance and reciprocal filial piety, which may support the culture‐fit hypothesis that a person’s attachment orientation will be more problematic when it is incompatible with cultural values.

Effect of national cultural dimensions and HIV prevalence rates on stigma towards people living with HIV/AIDS

ABSTRACT This paper examines the main and interactive effects of national culture dimensions and HIV prevalence rates on stigma towards people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIVA). We examined these various relationships using data from a sample of 68,041 individuals from 49 countries, obtained from the World Values Survey. We used Hierarchical Linear Modeling to conduct our cross-level analyses. Our results indicated that collectivistic societies were positively associated while egalitarian and performance-oriented societies were negatively associated with stigma towards PLHIVA. Additionally, HIV prevalence rates interact with several cultural dimensions to worsen stigma towards PLHIVA. Our findings indicate the need to tailor stigma reduction strategies by taking the national culture dimensions of a given society into consideration when designing and implementing programs.

Influence of individualism and collectivism on talent management practices

As the world becomes more globalized, it is increasingly necessary to be aware of the limitations of a universalistic approach to talent management. Talent management practices are considered to be among the three most important topics explored in talent management literature. However, there is a dearth of studies investigating the influence of national culture on talent management practices. The current article seeks to make a conceptual contribution to talent management practice literature through reviewing previous talent management practices, individualist, and collectivist literature then synthesizes the literature to provide a framework for examining the different talent management practices in individualistic and collectivistic societies. Talent management practices originated in Anglo-Saxon countries and align with their individualistic culture, which leads to the question of whether these practices can be implemented effectively in collectivistic societies. This study attempts to answer this question by exploring talent management practices in individualist and collectivist cultures and providing a framework for effective talent management practices in both. This research opens the door for more research to explore the gaps between what happens in talent management practices and what should happen according to talent management practices theory.

Mexican Postgraduate Students’ Expectations and Perception of UK Academic System: Cultural Differences During the Early Weeks

Based on Hofstede’s (1986) 4-D model of cultural differences, this article explores the expectations for institutional support as well as the initial perception of the educational system of a group of Mexican postgraduate students in a British university. The data presented here derive from a doctoral case study. They involve a qualitative questionnaire, focus groups, and individual interviews with ten participants enrolled for the 2016-2017 academic year. Despite participants’ ultimate goal of a degree but in accordance with the core values of a collectivist society, this study found pre-departure concerns were for the institutional provision of activities to socialize and feel connected with the host environment. Upon arrival, different extents of dealing with uncertainty had an affective impact on adaptation of participants, who longed for more structure. Based on a comparison between degrees of power distance, individualism and uncertainty avoidance features, participants’ accounts – in accordance with Paulo Freire’s liberating pedagogy – showed satisfaction for the student-centered approach rendered.

Personality, community, and politics: relating the five factor model to political behaviour in an African setting

ABSTRACT Numerous studies demonstrate the impact of personality traits on political attitudes and behaviours, but these theories have not been tested in African contexts. Using a survey conducted in three indigenous languages of 1,516 respondents from northern Ghana, we demonstrate the salience of personality variables in predicting political attitudes and behaviours. These results are striking given the region's strong social hierarchies, low levels of education, and collectivist orientation. Our more stable personality measurements of Extraversion, Agreeableness, Emotional Stability, and Conscientiousness are strong predictors of various political attitudes and behaviour in the expected directions. These relationships remain robust in the presence of demographic and linguistic controls. This paper points to a rich and underexplored avenue of political analysis across collectivist societies and provides tools to aid researchers in employing measures of abstract personality traits in contexts characterised by collectivism that speak non-European languages.

The influence of institutions on early-stage entrepreneurial activity: a comparison between men and women in Saudi Arabia

PurposeTo date, insufficient research has been conducted on gender differences in entrepreneurial activity among entrepreneurs in developing countries. This study aims to analyse the influences of formal and informal institutional factors on entrepreneurial activity among men and women in the context of Saudi Arabia.Design/methodology/approachThis research involves a quantitative analysis of recently collected primary data. Hypotheses are formulated and tested using the Mann–Whitney U test and a binomial logistic regression analysis. Also, the present study draws on institutional economics as a framework to explore how formal and informal institutional factors influence whether Saudi Arabian men and women become entrepreneurs.FindingsThe results revealed that compared to the effects of formal institutional factors, the effects of informal institutional factors are more reliable predictors of women’s entrepreneurship behaviour. Specifically, women are more likely than men to be stereotyped and more likely to benefit from networking.Practical implicationsRegarding policy implications, this study suggests several checks for different institutions to increase entrepreneurship among each gender.Originality/valueThe findings presented here advance entrepreneurial research by empirically examining factors that influence men’s and women’s desires to become entrepreneurs in a fast-growing emerging economy. The findings show a substantial shift in the institutional environment and indicate an extremely collectivist society. This study provides a basis for future studies on factors within the institutional environment and their impacts on whether men and women become entrepreneurs in Eastern nations. Regarding policy implications, this study suggests several ways for different institutions to increase entrepreneurship among each gender.

The effects of individual and collective variability on youth players’ movement behaviours during football small-sided games

ABSTRACT This study aimed to identify the effects of playing with additional individual (IND), collective (COL) or individual-collective (MIX) variability on youth football players’ performance during small-sided games. Twelve youth football players (U17, age = 16.1 ± 0.9 years) played a goalkeeper (Gk) + 6 outfield players a-side (Gk+6vs6+Gk) under four conditions: (i) playing in the 1:2:3:1 formation without any other rule (control condition, CTR); (ii) 1:2:3:1 formation with additional body restrictions changing each minute (individual condition, IND); (iii) using different tactical formations modified each minute (collective condition, COL; (iv) using different tactical formations and body restrictions varied each minute (individual-collective condition, MIX). Generally, there were similar behaviours across conditions, especially for the CTR and the MIX. Nevertheless, the CTR condition presented moderate higher values in the lateral direction (p ≤ .05), while also higher longitudinal synchronization compared to the IND (p ≤ .05). The COL condition presented higher spatial exploration (p ≤ .05), which may justify the higher values for distance covered while running and sprinting (p ≤ .05). Overall, coaches may use the IND condition to refine players’ technical actions, while the COL condition to develop players’ ability to perform in different playing positions and team structures.

Affective Representation of Early Relationships with Parents and Current Anxiety and Depression

Research on the role of early relationships with parents on youth’s anxiety and depression, especially in collectivist societies such as China, is limited. To fill this gap, we investigated the unique role of early relationship with mothers and fathers, respectively, in Chinese youth’s anxiety and depression outcomes. The participants were 347 Chinese college students from 20 provinces. They first separately rated the frequency of experiencing 13 emotions (e.g., anger) from recalling early relationships with their mothers and fathers, then completed the Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale and the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale. Logistic regression was performed to determine the unique contribution of early relationships with mothers and fathers, respectively, to the participants’ clinical-level anxiety and depression. Based on the final model of our logistical regression, we found that an increase in negative affective representation of early relationship with the mother was associated with a higher likelihood of clinical level anxiety (OR = 3.58; 95% CI = 1.32–9.70), while an increase in positive affective representation of early relationship with the mother was associated with a lower likelihood of clinical-level depression (OR = 0.47; 95% CI = 0.25–0.87). Furthermore, an increase in negative affective representation of early relationship with the father was associated with a higher likelihood of clinical-level anxiety (OR = 3.36; 95% CI = 1.37-8.26) and depression (OR = 3.68; 95% CI = 1.59-8.52), above and beyond their affective representation of early relationship with the mother.

Core Self-Evaluation, Emotional Reactivity to Interpersonal Conflict, and Subjective Well-Being: The Moderating Role of Horizontal Collectivism

This study aims to examine a moderated mediation model wherein core self-evaluation (CSE) and horizontal collectivism (HC) interact to predict negative emotional reactivity to interpersonal conflict, and thus HC moderates the indirect effects of CSE on subjective well-being (SWB) through emotional reactivity. A short-term prospective study was conducted with 257 South Korean university students. Participants completed measures of CSE and HC, and then reported their experiences with interpersonal conflict and SWB in an online survey about two weeks later. We found that, among low HC participants, after controlling for the importance of conflict issues, individual differences in CSE predicted emotional reactivity to interpersonal conflict, and emotional reactivity was in turn negatively associated with SWB. By contrast, among high-HC participants, emotional reactivity to interpersonal conflict did not differ as a function of CSE, and the indirect effects of CSE on SWB were not significant. These findings highlight the importance of high CSE and HC values in fostering emerging adults’ resilience against the detrimental effects of interpersonal conflict in sustaining individuals’ SWB. Implications for conflict management interventions are discussed.

The Influence of Attitude on Consumers’ Autonomy to make Halal Food Purchase Intention: An Overview of Self-determination in a Collectivist Culture

The present study attempts to analyze the effect of consumers’ autonomy and attitude on halal food purchase intention, especially in a collectivist culture. In addition, the effect of consumers’ attitude on their autonomy while making up halal food purchase intention was also investigated. The responses from a sample of 308 respondents from the major cities of Pakistan were gathered with the help of an online questionnaire and then analyzed by using Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results revealed a large and significant effect of consumers’ attitude on their autonomy to make halal food purchase intention. Moreover, the effect of consumers’ attitude on halal food purchase intention was found to be significant; whereas the effect of consumers’ autonomy on halal food purchase intention was not found. Hence, the results indicate that consumers’ autonomy, which is an innate psychological need of humans, is undermined by their attitude in collectivist cultures. The study was performed to analyze the impact of consumers’ attitude on their autonomy; future studies may be performed to examine the impact of attitude on other basic psychological needs of competence, and relatedness. Furthermore, Pakistan was taken as the context of study, such future research endeavors may be carried out in other collectivist and even non-collectivist societies. The present study is believed to be the first ever to investigate the impact of attitude on autonomy, specifically in a collectivist society.

Emotional Effects of Product Form in Individualist and Collectivist Cultures

ABSTRACT This research investigates differences in visual form perception of products in individualist and collectivist societies to help designers and market analysts design products according to their users’ formal preferences. This study was conducted in two phases. First, five visual form types were selected out of 500 samples by design expertise for the test: geometric, organic, complex, simple, and symbolic forms. Second, three groups of American (highly individualist), German (individualist), and Iranian (collectivist) were selected based on their cultural dimensions. We developed Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) with the emotions to focus solely on limiting emotions. Since the emotions were in two opposite spectrums, four emotions were considered as positive and the next four emotions as negative. ANOVA was conducted for normally distributed data and Kruskal–Wallis test for non-normal data. The results of this research showed that people with different cultural dimensions have different reactions, feelings, and preferences to products with different formal features. While individualists embrace geometric, simple, and symbolic forms, collectivists prefer organic forms most. The complex form is rejected by all three groups. This research extends our knowledge about cultural differences and provides a very critical tool for designers to design their products according to their users’ emotions.

Does positive affect predict mortality and morbidity? A 19-year longitudinal study of middle-aged and older Japanese adults

Positive affect contributes to health and longevity. While most research has been conducted in individualistic societies where the experience and expression of positive emotions are highly valued, evidence remains scarce in collectivistic societies that de-emphasize the importance thereof. Employing 19-year longitudinal data of Japanese adults (age range 40–79; N = 2,033), we examined whether positive affect predicted mortality and morbidity. Health outcomes were all-cause and cause-specific mortality as well as the onset of morbidity (heart disease, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, and cancer). After adjusting for relevant covariates, the Cox proportional hazards models revealed that positive affect predicted none of the outcomes. Our results did not replicate the health−benefits of positive affect. We discussed potential reasons for the null results.

Outside the “Cultural Binary”: Understanding Why Latin American Collectivist Societies Foster Independent Selves

Cultural psychologists often treat binary contrasts of West versus East, individualism versus collectivism, and independent versus interdependent self-construal as interchangeable, thus assuming that collectivist societies promote interdependent rather than independent models of selfhood. At odds with this assumption, existing data indicate that Latin American societies emphasize collectivist values at least as strongly as Confucian East Asian societies, but they emphasize most forms of independent self-construal at least as strongly as Western societies. We argue that these seemingly “anomalous” findings can be explained by societal differences in modes of subsistence (herding vs. rice farming), colonial histories (frontier settlement), cultural heterogeneity, religious heritage, and societal organization (relational mobility, loose norms, honor logic) and that they cohere with other indices of contemporary psychological culture. We conclude that the common view linking collectivist values with interdependent self-construal needs revision. Global cultures are diverse, and researchers should pay more attention to societies beyond “the West” and East Asia. Our contribution concurrently illustrates the value of learning from unexpected results and the crucial importance of exploratory research in psychological science.

The red and green signals for industrial salesforce: testing an integrated framework

Purpose A highly competitive business environment needs a creative strategy for long-term survival and a competitive advantage in an uncertain market environment. This objective induces organizations to adopt innovative workplace behavior for better performance. Accordingly, this study aims to examine the impact of spirit at work (SAW), perceived identifiability and shared responsibility on innovative work behavior (IWB) and task performance. Design/methodology/approach The data was collected from 72 business-to-business (B2B) sales teams consisting of 561 employees working in Pakistan's B2B industries. The data was then analyzed using PROCESS macro to test the research hypotheses. Findings The results have shown a surprising and inconsistent finding where shared responsibility has a relatively more substantial and positive influence on IWB and task performance than perceived identifiability and SAW. Research limitations/implications The shared responsibility dimension of “social loafing theory” always negatively influences work-related outcomes, but this study refutes this claim. Therefore, researchers should explore social loafing theory in cultures with a higher collectivism score on the Hofstede cultural model. Practical implications This study motivates the sales manager to reassess the shared responsibility concept, as it may play a synergetic role in boosting innovation in selling approaches. Originality/value As per the researchers' best knowledge, research on social loafing theory has never been conducted in a selling context, specifically in a collectivistic society.