Harry Triandis

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign | UIUC · Department of Psychology

Culture is a shared meaning system, found among those who speak a particular language dialect, during a specific historic period, and in a definable geographic region.

Scientists Making a Difference is a fascinating collection of first-person narratives from the top psychological scientists of the modern era. These readable essays highlight the most important contributions to theory and research in psychological science, show how the greatest psychological scientists formulate and think about their work, and illu...

Collectivism is a cultural pattern found in most traditional societies, especially in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. It contrasts with individualism, which is a cultural pattern found mostly in Western Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand. The dimension of collectivism–individualism is also a psychological one that has been examined...

Purpose – There are four criteria that people universally value: health, well-being, longevity, and environmental preservation. When these criteria are violated, a society becomes unsustainable. In order to preserve cultures, these four universal criteria therefore need to be taken into account. But nation states are no longer the dominant form of...

Born in 1916 and destined to become one of the most important psychologists of the twentieth century, Charles E. Osgood made contributions in numerous fields, such as psycholinguistics, synesthesia, multiple personality, speech hesitation, suicide notes, aphasia, language universals, facial expressions, color, metaphor, and cross-cultural psycholog...

Self-deception is the act of deceiving ourselves. defined it as “a failure to recognize personal limitations. The development of a false or unrealistic self-concept.” argued that humans often use their hopes, needs, desires, wishes, expectations, dreams, theory, prejudices, and other “internal” processes to construct the way they see the world. Suc...

Self-deception has been studied by philosophers and psychologists for some time. Frenkel-Brunswik (1939) published the first psychology paper. In Triandis (2009 p. ix) there are references to 24 papers by philosophers and psychologists that examined this concept. All humans have self-deceptions, some more frequently than others. That is, they see t...

Self-deception has been studied by philosophers and psychologists for some time. Frenkel-Brunswik (1939) published the first psychology paper. In Triandis (2009, p. ix) there are references to 24 papers by philosophers and psychologists that examined this concept. All humans have self-deceptions, some more frequently than others. That is, they see...

In the context of reduced violence world-wide, as documented by Pinker (2011), Islam is an exception; i.e., it is more violent than other cultures. Can contemporary cultural psychology explain aspects of this difference? It is hypothesized that violence is more frequent in cultures that are vertical collectivist than in cultures that are horizontal...

In the context of reduced violence world-wide, as documented by Pinker (2011), Islam is an exception; i.e., it is more violent than other cultures. Can contemporary cultural psychology explain aspects of this difference? It is hypothesized that violence is more frequent in cultures that are vertical collectivist than in cultures that are horizontal...

This article presents an analysis of subjective culture, which includes shared ideas, theories, and political, religious, scientific, economic, and social standards for judging events in the environment. Subjective culture also includes shared memories, and ideas about correct and incorrect behavior, stereotypes, and the way members of the culture...

This entry includes the following topics: history; defining attributes; other attributes; measurement; antecedents; consequences; personality and situational factors; and applications of the constructs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

A theory of individualism and collectivism The evolution of individualism and collectivism theory and research is reviewed. The antecedents of collectivism–individualism can be found in the ecology, family structure, wealth distribution, demography, history, cultural diffusion, and situational conditions. The consequences of collectivism–individual...

'As its title implies, this book by three distinguished scholars puts a cultural perspective at the front and center of issues relating to current approaches to managing complex organizations. It does this by covering the most recent relevant findings by researchers from around the world and, most importantly, interpreting those findings in ways th...

The distribution of self-deceptions among individuals and cultures around the world is an important topic for future study. In this paper definitions of cultural variations and self-deceptions are presented and the links among these constructs are examined.

Members of different cultures sample with diverse probabilities different kinds of information from their environment. Some sample the content of communications more than the context (e.g. tone of voice, gestures), whereas others do the reverse. Some sample processes internal to individuals (e.g. attitudes, beliefs) whereas others sample processes...

For most of my career I studied the relationship between culture and psychological process, and the implication of such relationships for managerial and other behaviors. That has certainly become an important research area. Since I published my Individualism and Collectivism book (Triandis, 1995), for instance, this topic has become important in th...

Lawrence M. Stolurow died at home in La Jolla, California, on August 14, 2009, at the age of 91. He was professor of education and director of the Center for Educational Experimentation, Development, and Evaluation at the University of Iowa from 1977 to 1989, when he became emeritus professor. Previously, Stolurow held positions at the University o...

What is Strategy?Strategy Levels and PerspectivesStrategy Formulation and ImplementationStrategy EvaluationStrategy and InnovationTechnology and StrategyApplying a Strategy ProcessSummaryQuestions for Class Discussion

Conflict Within IndividualsConflict Between IndividualsConflict Between GroupsIntercultural ConflictPersonal Styles of Conflict ResolutionUnique Issues of Conflict in R&D OrganizationsEthicsSummaryQuestions for Class Discussion

Technology Transfer HypothesesStages of Technology TransferApproaches and Factors Affecting Technology TransferRole of the UserCharacteristics of Innovation and its DiffusionRole of PeopleBoundary SpanningOrganizational Issues in Technology TransferThe Agricultural Extension ModelNASA Technology Transfer ProgramsIBM Technology Transfer CasesTechnol...

Organization EffectivenessWho are the Inventors and Innovators?Odd Characteristics of Inventors and InnovatorsResearcher's Relationship with Management and PeersFormation of TeamsGenerating New IdeasEmphases on Aspects of Organizational CultureEthos of a Scientific CommunitySummaryQuestions for Class Discussion

Identifying Your Leadership StyleTheories of Leadership and Leadership StylesLeadership in R&D OrganizationsR&D Leadership: A Process of Mutual InfluenceA Leadership-Style CaseLeadership in a Creative Research EnvironmentSummaryQuestions for Class Discussion

Job AttributesPhysical Location and CommunicationCareer PathsDual and Triple HierarchiesCentralization and DecentralizationKeeping the Researcher at the Innovation StageJob Design and ConflictSummaryQuestions for Class Discussion

Basis for University Research ActivitiesFederal Support of University Research: An Entitlement or a Means to Achieve National Goals?Basic Research: Who Needs It?University–Industry LinkageRethinking Investment in Basic ResearchSummary and Concluding CommentsQuestions for Class Discussion

Attitude, Attitude ChangeFindings from Attitude ResearchBehavioral Science Division CaseCase AnalysisCommunication Alternatives and OutcomesSummaryQuestions for Class Discussion

Relationship Between Science and TechnologyTechnical Innovation and Economic DevelopmentAnalysis of Investment in Basic ResearchR&D ExpenditureR&D ProductivityGlobal Perspectives on InnovationR&D Expenditure and Science PolicySummaryQuestions for Class Discussion

Overall Trends Within and Between SectorsTrends in Research, Development, And Innovation in the Commercial RealmTrends in Research, Development and Innovation in the Federal GovernmentTrends in Research, Development, and Innovation in UniversitiesOpen Innovation, Regional Economic Development, and the Global Innovation NetworkSummaryQuestions For C...

Assimilation and MulticulturalismUnderstanding CultureCultural DifferencesWhat Happens When People from Different Cultures Work Together?Cultural DistanceCultural Intelligence and Related ConceptsA Model for Diversity in GroupsThe Status of Minorities in Work GroupsDealing with People from Different Disciplines, Organizational Levels, and Functions...

PeopleSpecializationStaffingIdeasDefects in Human Information ProcessingFads in ScienceCommunication NetworksThe Innovation ProcessFundsA Culture for R&D OrganizationsNot-Invented-Here SyndromeFit of Person and JobCreative Tensions: Managing Antithesis and AmbiguityDevelop a Climate of ParticipationSummaryQuestions for Class Discussion

Half-Title PageTitle PageCopyright PageDedication PageTable of ContentsPreface

Why Organizational Change?Steps in Organizational ChangeProblems and Action StepsIndividual ChangeGroup Change: Team BuildingOrganizational ChangeEvaluating Organizational ChangeCase Study in Organizational ChangeSummaryQuestions for Class Discussion

A Model of Human BehaviorChanging the Reward System to Support Technical CareersStructuring the Organization for Optimal CommunicationRewards and MotivationReward System DiscussionSense of Control and CommunityA Federal R&D Laboratory CaseSummaryQuestions for Class Discussion

Defining InnovationStrategic Choices in Technological InnovationMaking Technological Innovation OperationalThe Market, Marketers, and Market Research in Technological InnovationLeading Innovative OrganizationsSummaryQuestions for Class Discussion

Some Negative Connotations of Performance AppraisalDifficulties with Employee AppraisalPerformance Appraisal and the Management SystemPerformance Appraisal and Organizational StagesPerformance Appraisal and Organization ProductivityGoals of Engineers Versus ScientistsPerformance Appraisal and Monetary RewardsPerformance Appraisal in PracticeA Unive...

Alan Reitman, Associate Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union, submitted a series of questions which the practitioners of civil liberties would like behavioral scientists to answer. Triandis translates these questions to researchable topics, reviews some of the literature relevant to each, and suggests the kinds of studies that n...

This section of the volume summarizes responses to these questions, which include: 1. What is the relevance of psychological studies of culture to national development and national policies? (Harry C. Triandis, Shalom H. Schwartz, Richard W. Brislin, Sik Hung Ng) 2. What is the relationship between macro structures of a society and shared cognition...

Four objective, measurable criteria are proposed to measure the position of a culture relative to other cultures. The use of such criteria will avoid, in part, distortions of perception. While this is an initial step toward the realistic perception of a culture, it has many limitations that are discussed at the end of the paper.

DefinitionsDimensions of Cultural VariationKinds of CollectivesThe Importance of Personalities and SituationsAcculturation, Identity, and Intergroup BehaviorDeterminants of Intergroup RelationsOther Determinants of Intergroup BehaviorHistory, Cultural Norms, and Perceptions of DissimilarityA Closer Examination of Culture and Intergroup RelationsCon...

The schematic diagram shown in Fig. 1 suggests that a global mindset evolves in the cultural context of industry-specific, organization-specific, and person-specific antecedents that are salient in the context of the global manager and the environment in which he or she functions. Taken clockwise, we discuss the relevance of various factors that co...

This is a particularly good time to reexamine research priorities and paradigms in social psychology. Much of social psychology today is like a torrent of water that has reached a mountain ridge and is unable to find an exit toward the sea. Most of it consists of going around in circles.

In this study we examined how perceived group norm and group identity influence individual cooperative behavior in a public goods dilemma across cultural settings. Six hundred and eight students in the United States and People's Republic of China participated in a laboratory experiment in which group norm and group identity were manipulated and the...

The history of the study of the relationship between culture and psychology has been presented in considerable detail by Jahoda (1993). Other histories have been published by Klineberg (1980) and Jahoda and Krewer (1997). Furthermore, Cole (1996) included much historical material in the first section of his Cultural Psychology. What follows is the...

One hundred and forty variables tapping aspects of the subjective culture (characteristic way or perceiving the social environment) of 300 white male students were subjected to two-mode factor analysis. Five subject types emerged from the similarities in the responses of the students to these variables. In the next phase of the study, 88 representa...

Previous studies have shown that individuals in collectivist cultures may be more corrupt than those in individualist cultures when they are interacting with outgroup members. The countries that are least corrupt, according to the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index, tend to have horizontal individualist cultures, with Singapore...

Successful interaction across cultures requires cultural intelligence. Several aspects of cultural intelligence in organizations are described: suspending judgment until enough information about the other person becomes available; paying attention to the situation; cross-cultural training that increases isomorphic attributions, appropriate affect,...

Presents an obituary of William W. Lambert. One of the great polymaths of our field passed away on February 26, 2005. He was a walking encyclopedia of the social sciences. He was born in Amherst, N. S Canada on May 10, 1919. After undergraduate work at Brown, he did graduate work in Nebraska and Harvard (Ph.D. 1950). He studied in the Department of...

I first met Geert Hofstede in 1973, at the Congress of the International Association of Applied Psy- chology in Liege, Belgium. He mentioned to a group of delegates at the Congress that he had a large data set that he was going to analyze and offered to take us to Brussels to look at it. We were quite impressed. A few years later, Sage Publications...

Key Words cross-cultural differences in social cognition, cultural emergence s Abstract Psychological processes influence culture. Culture influences psychological processes. Individual thoughts and actions influence cultural norms and practices as they evolve over time, and these cultural norms and practices influence the thoughts and actions of i...

Cet article examine plusieurs sortes de diversités ethniques dans les organisations internationales. Il recense les facteurs susceptibles de rendre particul-ièrement faciles ou difficiles les relations intergroupes relevant de ces diversités. Il propose aussi des solutions qui peuvent favoriser les relations intergroupes. L’avenir imposera une conj...

This article examines some of the limitations of social psychology and shows how they can be remedied by increased attention to cross-cultural studies. For example, many of the key constructs of the discipline, such as self, conformity, control, intelligence, and well being, are culture bound. The author proposes directions in theory development an...

The attributes of indigenous, cultural, and cross-cultural psychology are described. Dimensions that contrast these three approaches are examined. They include emphases on emics, etics, or both, context or content of communications, culture inside or outside the person, culture dynamic or static, studying real or artificial situations, meaning is t...

The definition of subjective culture is followed by a listing of the elements of subjective culture and an examination of the content of each element and the methodological problems in studying that element.

Little is known about the effectiveness of cross-border transfer of organizational knowledge involving dissimilar cultural contexts. We propose a theoretical framework for understanding the significance of four transacting cultural patterns, defined in terms of the dimensions of individualism-collectivism and verticalness-horizontalness, for their...

Ecologies shape cultures; cultures influence the development of personalities. There are both universal and culture-specific aspects of variation in personality. Some culture-specific aspects correspond to cultural syndromes such as complexity, tightness, individualism, and collectivism. A large body of literature suggests that the Big Five persona...

This paper provides a review of the main findings concerning the relationship between the cultural syndromes of individualism and collectivism and personality. People in collectivist cultures, compared to people in individualist cultures, are likely to define themselves as aspects of groups, to give priority to in-group goals, to focus on context m...

Little is known about the effectiveness of cross-border transfer of organizational knowledge involving dissimilar cultural contexts. We propose a theoretical framework for understanding the significance of four transacting cultural patterns, defined in terms of the dimensions of individualism-collectivism and verticalness-horizontalness, for their...

the need to consider the influence of culture on industrial and organizational processes is emphasized in view of the increased cultural diversity of industrial and organizational environments / examines the theoretical and methodological problems in defining and measuring culture and studying its effects on industrial and organizational processes...

Collectivism is a cultural pattern found in most traditional societies, especially in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. It contrasts with individualism, which is a cultural pattern found mostly in Western Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand. The article describes some of the characteristics of this cultural pattern, its geographic and...

This article investigates the relationship between culture, personality, and deception in a simulated international management negotiation at multiple levels of analysis. `Deception' was operationalized here as the propensity to lie and bribe. As predicted, at the cultural level the results from a scenario study with 1583 participants from eight cu...

This is a review of the book, "Social Psychology Across Cultures (2nd ed.)" (see record 1998-06813-000 ). This edition of Social Psychology Across Cultures does an even better job of extending social psychology by providing a superb review of the cross-cultural literature. It is more complete than the previous edition, and covers many more topics....

Do cultural values influence the manner in which people cooperate with one another? This study assessed cultural characteristics of individuals and then related these characteristics to cooperative behavior in social dilemmas. Participants were assessed for their degree of vertical and horizontal individualism and collectivism, cultural values iden...

Used 16 scenarios to measure tendencies toward horizontal or vertical, individualism or collectivism with a sample of 180 Indian students (aged 19–25 yrs). The authors confirmed their hypothesis that India would be a vertical collectivism culture. The results show that vertical collectivism was consistently more popular across the scenarios when co...

This article presents a method that uses scenarios for the measurement of horizontal (H)and vertical (V) individualism (I) and collectivism (C) across cultures, with university samples. The scenarios were developed by using focus groups, to cover a wide range of social situations often found among university students. Graduate student judges indica...

This article describes a self-administered questionnaire that allows individuals to determine their own tendencies toward individualism and collectivism. This approach enables trainers to (a) introduce novices to the constructs, (b) clarify that demographic factors and individual experiences, over and above cultural background, shift a person's pos...

The relative importance of emotions versus normative beliefs for life satisfaction judgments was compared among individualist and collectivist nations in 2 large sets of international data (in total, 61 nations, N = 62,446). Among nations, emotions and life satisfaction correlated significantly more strongly in more individualistic nations ( r = ....

The constructs of horizontal (H) and vertical (V) individualism (I) and collectivism (C) were theoretically defined and empirically supported. Study 1 confirmed, via factor analysis, that the 4 constructs, HI, V1, HC, and VC, which were previously found in the United States, which has an individualist culture, also were found in Korea which has a c...

The constructs of horizontal (H) and vertical (V) individualism (I) and collectivism (C) were theoretically defined and emperically supported. Study 1 confirmed, via factor analysis, that the 4 constructs, HI, VI, HC, and VC, which were previously found in the United States, which has an individualist culture, also were found in Korea, which has a...

the subfield of culture and personality is the oldest of cross-cultural psychology / many writers prescribed how culture and personality studies should be done, but almost no one has followed these prescriptions, because they are too demanding / J. G. Draguns has suggested that the strategy should consist of an examination of dimensions of personal...

The lead article provides a useful overview of the broad literature concerned with immigration and acculturation. Much of the paper concerns the terminology that might be used to study these phenomena. Thus, it is appropriate to ask if the proposed terminology is optimal. In addition, the paper presents a broad model of the factors that lead to ada...

Although there has been progress in the definition, antecedents, and consequences of individualism and collectivism, there are some fundamental issues that need to be resolved. This study examined two such issues: the dimensionality of individualism and collectivism, and the relationship of these constructs to authoritarianism. Thirty-eight America...

An examination of a range of definitions of culture indicates that almost all researchers agree that culture is reflected in shared cognitions, standard operating procedures, and unexamined assumptions. Cultural syndromes consist of shared shared attitudes, beliefs, norms, role and self definitions, and values of members of each culture that are or...

The construct of tightness-looseness is considered to be important in differentiating cultures (Pelto, 1968; Triandis, 1977, 1989). The objective of the present paper is to advance understanding of this construct. Specifically, we present a conceptual framework for the construct and formulate some general research hypotheses derived from our concep...

Collectivism and individualism are cultural syndromes that have some common cores. Allocentrism and idiocentrism are constructs at the individual level that correspond to collectivism and individualism respectively at the cultural level. In two studies, the first with American (from Illinois) and the second with Japanese subjects, we examined the b...

In developing a new scale, this article makes theoretical and measurement distinctions between vertical and horizontal individualism and collectivism. Vertical collectivism includes perceiving the selfas a part (or an aspect) of a collective and accepting inequalities within the collective. Horizontal collectivism includes perceiving the self as a...

The authors discuss the most overarching of culture theories, namely the theory of individualism and collectivism, and describe its relationship to other theories, especially to A. P. Fiske's 4 kinds of sociality (1990, 1992) and to M. Rokeach's typology of values and political systems (1973). The authors then discuss how an understanding of this c...

recognize the importance of several variables that may usefully be included in future research on diversity, such as cultural distance, differences in the levels of adaptation on key perceptual variables in the 2 cultures, the emotional effects of the history of intergroup relations, the pattern of acculturation of the relevant cultures, and the te...