East-West beliefs challenged by North-South evidence about collectivism versus individualism

IF 6.1 1区心理学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

Journal of Environmental Psychology Pub Date : 2025-02-01 DOI:10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102498

Evert Van de Vliert , Brett Pelham , Joseph A. Vandello

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Psychologists inevitably study people from collectivistic or individualistic cultures, who have adapted their psychosocial habits to their natural habitats. Therefore, understanding the precursors of degrees of collectivism is essential. To this end, the present report shows that, geographically, collectivism varies negligibly from East to West but decreases at higher latitudes, even across 50 African countries (low latitudes), 50 United States (intermediate latitudes), and 85 Russian regions (high latitudes). Ecologically, there is robust support for the system-theoretical hypothesis that greater stability of day length, temperature, and daily precipitation over the course of the year promotes collectivism. Consequently, geographical positionings of collectivism in the distant past can forecast geographical positionings of collectivism today. This long-term predictability of collectivism versus individualism holds true in all four hemispheres as well as on finer spatial scales. This includes Africans inhabiting the oldest human habitats on Earth and Americans residing in the relatively young United States.

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来源期刊

Journal of Environmental Psychology Multiple-

CiteScore

10.60

自引率

8.70%

发文量

140

审稿时长

62 days

期刊介绍： The Journal of Environmental Psychology is the premier journal in the field, serving individuals in a wide range of disciplines who have an interest in the scientific study of the transactions and interrelationships between people and their surroundings (including built, social, natural and virtual environments, the use and abuse of nature and natural resources, and sustainability-related behavior). The journal publishes internationally contributed empirical studies and reviews of research on these topics that advance new insights. As an important forum for the field, the journal publishes some of the most influential papers in the discipline that reflect the scientific development of environmental psychology. Contributions on theoretical, methodological, and practical aspects of all human-environment interactions are welcome, along with innovative or interdisciplinary approaches that have a psychological emphasis. Research areas include: •Psychological and behavioral aspects of people and nature •Cognitive mapping, spatial cognition and wayfinding •Ecological consequences of human actions •Theories of place, place attachment, and place identity •Environmental risks and hazards: perception, behavior, and management •Perception and evaluation of buildings and natural landscapes •Effects of physical and natural settings on human cognition and health •Theories of proenvironmental behavior, norms, attitudes, and personality •Psychology of sustainability and climate change •Psychological aspects of resource management and crises •Social use of space: crowding, privacy, territoriality, personal space •Design of, and experiences related to, the physical aspects of workplaces, schools, residences, public buildings and public space