Individualism-collectivism and the attitudes to school bullying of Japanese and Australian students
Author(s)
Nesdale, Drew
Naito, Mikako
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2005
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
This study examined whether collectivism versus individualism influences participants' attitudes toward group-based bullying. Student members of a collectivistic culture (Japan; n = 158) versus an individualistic culture (Australia; n = 157) read about a school bullying episode. Collectivistic responses were predicted when the victim was a student from the same culture as the participant, and the classroom group had a norm of bullying versus helping. Individualistic responses were predicted when the participant learned that he or she was personally connected with the bully or the victim. Contrary to predictions, the participants' ...
View more >This study examined whether collectivism versus individualism influences participants' attitudes toward group-based bullying. Student members of a collectivistic culture (Japan; n = 158) versus an individualistic culture (Australia; n = 157) read about a school bullying episode. Collectivistic responses were predicted when the victim was a student from the same culture as the participant, and the classroom group had a norm of bullying versus helping. Individualistic responses were predicted when the participant learned that he or she was personally connected with the bully or the victim. Contrary to predictions, the participants' attitudes reflected the interaction of nationality and gender, with the gender difference being greater between the Japanese versus Australian participants. In contrast, the participants' behavior intentions mainly reflected their nationality-the Japanese participants revealed a greater likelihood of bullying, and a lower likelihood of helping a victim, than did the Australians. The implications for research on individualism-collectivism and bullying are discussed.
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View more >This study examined whether collectivism versus individualism influences participants' attitudes toward group-based bullying. Student members of a collectivistic culture (Japan; n = 158) versus an individualistic culture (Australia; n = 157) read about a school bullying episode. Collectivistic responses were predicted when the victim was a student from the same culture as the participant, and the classroom group had a norm of bullying versus helping. Individualistic responses were predicted when the participant learned that he or she was personally connected with the bully or the victim. Contrary to predictions, the participants' attitudes reflected the interaction of nationality and gender, with the gender difference being greater between the Japanese versus Australian participants. In contrast, the participants' behavior intentions mainly reflected their nationality-the Japanese participants revealed a greater likelihood of bullying, and a lower likelihood of helping a victim, than did the Australians. The implications for research on individualism-collectivism and bullying are discussed.
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Journal Title
Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology
Volume
36
Issue
5
Publisher URI
Copyright Statement
© 2005 Sage Publications. Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. First published in Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. This journal is available online: http://jcc.sagepub.com/content/vol36/issue5/
Subject
Cognitive and computational psychology