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Are Japanese More Collectivistic Than Americans? Examining Conformity in In-Groups and the Reference-Group Effect

¹ University of Tokyo
² Kyoto Koka Women’s University

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: takano{at}L.u-tokyo.ac.jp.

	Abstract

This study examines whether the common view that Japanese are more collectivistic than Americans is valid or not in three respects: First, the authors point out that those empirical studies that were directly related to the commonly accepted definition of individualism and collectivism (I/C) did not support the common view and that those studies whose relations to I/C were merely inferred were inappropriate in judging its validity. Second, the authors show that the reference-group effect (Heine, Lehman, Peng, & Greenholtz, 2002) cannot entirely explain the past questionnaire studies’ failure to support the common view. Finally, by replicating Asch’s (1956) conformity experiment with 40 groups of 140 Japanese college students belonging to the same college clubs, the authors demonstrate that Japanese conform no more than Americans even in in-groups.

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