By examining the changes in the conceptual associations between individualism-collectivism and 10 other concepts based on the Google Ngram Chinese Corpus from the 1950s to the 1990s, Hamamura et al. ( 2021) inferred (a) no rise in individualism; (b) continuing collectivism; and (c) no effect of modernization on individualism in contemporary China. We question the validity of these conclusions given the following issues in their research: (a) misinterpretation of statistical results; (b) improper calculation of cultural associations; and (c) inappropriate generalization of specific findings. Contrary to their original findings, our reanalysis of their data suggests that individualism has been increasingly accepted and associated with some positive (vs. negative) aspects of life (e.g., income vs. loss, richness vs. poverty) over recent decades in China. Future research should use more rigorous methods and diverse corpora to clarify and explain changes in individualism and collectivism in China.

Over recent decades, massive socioeconomic development and accelerated globalization have led to substantial changes in human culture and psychology. In this chapter, the authors identify a general trend of human cultural change around the globe: individualism has been increasing whereas collectivism has been decreasing. This trend is manifested in diverse social indicators, cultural products, daily practices, and various domains of psychology including cognition, personality, attitudes and values, and human development. Cultural change, however, is not linear. Economic depression as well as other external forces such as disaster and pandemic may interfere with it; some aspects of cultural heritage may also endure over the course of modernization, and multicultural societies are burgeoning around the world. Our review highlights that culture is not a static construct but a dynamic process. Future studies may extend the content and scope of our current research, explore processes and mechanisms underlying cultural change, and examine how individuals, organizations, and governments cope with this change.

Growth mindset has shown its unique potential in countering the growing prevalence of mental distress in the general population. However, the role culture plays in this process remains somewhat unanswered. In the current prospective study, we tested if early growth mindset of Chinese university students predicts less mental distress later, and how cultural values (i.e., individualism–collectivism, traditionality–modernity) affect the process. We found that growth mindset was prospectively predictive of mental conditions, and the positive effect of growth mindset was more salient among students endorsing lower collectivistic and higher modern cultural values. Our findings added evidence to the potential benefits of growth mindsets in an Asian context and highlighted the role of cultural values.