Ingroup vigilance in collectivistic cultures

Abstract

Collectivistic cultures have been characterized as having harmonious, cooperative ingroup relationships. However, we find evidence that people in collectivistic cultures are more vigilant toward ingroup members, mindful of their possible unethical intentions. Study 1 found that Chinese participants were more vigilant than Americans in within-group competitions, anticipating more unethical behaviors from their peers. Study 2 replicated this finding by comparing areas within China, finding that people from China’s collectivistic rice-farming regions exhibit greater ingroup vigilance than people from the less collectivistic wheat-farming regions. The rice/wheat difference was mediated by greater perceived within-group competition. Study 3 found that Chinese participants were more likely than Americans to interpret a peer’s friendly behavior as sabotage in disguise. We also manipulated within-group competition and found that it increased ingroup vigilance in both cultures. Finally, study 3 identified two boundary conditions where cultural differences in ingroup vigilance decrease: an unambiguously competitive win–lose situation where Americans also exhibit vigilance, and an unambiguously cooperative win–win situation where Chinese participants relax their vigilance. This research contributes to a more balanced view of collectivism, revealing its interpersonal tensions in the forms of within-group competition and ingroup vigilance.

Guanxi HRM Practice and Employees’ Occupational Well-Being in China: A Multi-Level Psychological Process

“…First, collectivistic culture promotes interdependence within the team, resulting in lower psychological safety. Under conditions of high team collectivism, interpersonal relationships are a key mechanism through which individuals become attached to workgroups; team members are more concerned about the appearance of risky interpersonal exchanges and more vigilant regarding interpersonal tensions [68]. In a highly collectivistic culture, employees devote more attention to contextual signs for building or maintaining relationships, meaning that guanxi HRM practice will be more operational for them, thus the perceived uncertainty and vulnerability in dealing with others on the team will deteriorate the negative effect of guanxi HRM practice on psychological safety.…”

How Fear and Collectivism Influence Public's Preventive Intention Towards COVID-19 Infection: A Study Based on Big Data from the Social Media

“…While individualism and collectivism are two distinct cultural values [21], the pathogen prevalence hypothesis holds that collectivism is more likely to promote protection against epidemics than does individualism [22,23]. Collectivism places more emphasis on in-group vigilance [24][25][26]. Such may contribute to people's intention to prevent COVID-19.…”

Dispositional Self-Construal Modulates the Empathy for Others’ Pain: An ERP Study

“…According to Markus and Kitayama (1991) , people from individualistic cultures tend to perceive themselves as autonomous and independent from others (an independent self-construal), making them likely focus on uniqueness and self-interest; in contrast, people from collectivistic cultures define themselves as connected and interdependent with others (an interdependent self-construal), making them likely emphasize social harmony and others’ feeling and attitudes ( Markus and Kitayama, 1991 ). In addition, although collectivist culture emphasizes harmony and cooperation, it has been found that people in collectivist culture are more alert to group members than those in individualistic culture ( Liu et al, 2019 ). Moreover, it has been suggested that both the independent and interdependent self-construals exist in all cultures ( Singelis, 1994 ; Oyserman et al, 2002 ; Sui et al, 2013 ).…”