Current Research in Behavioral Sciences (Jan 2023)
Loneliness and vertical and horizontal collectivism and individualism: A multinational study
- Julie Aitken Schermer,
- Marija Branković,
- Đorđe Čekrlija,
- Kristi Baerg MacDonald,
- Joonha Park,
- Eva Papazova,
- Tatiana Volkodav,
- Dzintra Iliško,
- Anna Wlodarczyk,
- Maria Magdalena Kwiatkowska,
- Radosław Rogoza,
- Oscar Oviedo-Trespalacios,
- Truong Thi Khanh Ha,
- Christopher Marcin Kowalski,
- Sadia Malik,
- Samuel Lins,
- Ginés Navarro-Carrillo,
- Sibele D. Aquino,
- Marta Doroszuk,
- Ognjen Riđić,
- Natalia Pylat,
- Emrah Özsoy,
- Chee-Seng Tan,
- Agim Mamuti,
- Rahkman Ardi,
- Tomislav Jukić,
- Osman Uslu,
- Laura Martinez Buelvas,
- Kadi Liik,
- Gert Kruger
Affiliations
- Julie Aitken Schermer
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Science, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 5C2, Canada; Corresponding author.
- Marija Branković
- Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, Singidunum University, University of Belgrade, Serbia
- Đorđe Čekrlija
- Faculty of Philosophy, University of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Kristi Baerg MacDonald
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Science, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 5C2, Canada
- Joonha Park
- NUCB Business School, Japan
- Eva Papazova
- Institute for Research in Education, Bulgaria
- Tatiana Volkodav
- Kuban State University, Russia
- Dzintra Iliško
- Daugavpils University, Latvia
- Anna Wlodarczyk
- Universidad Católica del Norte, Antofagasta, Chile
- Maria Magdalena Kwiatkowska
- Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw, Poland
- Radosław Rogoza
- Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw, Poland
- Oscar Oviedo-Trespalacios
- Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
- Truong Thi Khanh Ha
- University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Vietnam
- Christopher Marcin Kowalski
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Science, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 5C2, Canada
- Sadia Malik
- University of Sargodha, Pakistan
- Samuel Lins
- University of Porto, Portugal
- Ginés Navarro-Carrillo
- University of Jaén, Spain
- Sibele D. Aquino
- Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Marta Doroszuk
- Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
- Ognjen Riđić
- The International University of Sarajevo (IUS), Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Natalia Pylat
- Ukrainian Catholic University, Ukraine
- Emrah Özsoy
- Sakarya University, Turkey
- Chee-Seng Tan
- Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Perak Campus, Malaysia
- Agim Mamuti
- University Mother Theresa, Skopje, Northern Macedonia
- Rahkman Ardi
- Airlangga University, Indonesia
- Tomislav Jukić
- University Josip Juraj Strossmayer, Republic of Croatia
- Osman Uslu
- Sakarya University, Turkey
- Laura Martinez Buelvas
- Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar, Colombia
- Kadi Liik
- Tallinn University, Estonia
- Gert Kruger
- University of Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa
- Journal volume & issue
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Vol. 4
p. 100105
Abstract
This paper investigates how horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism predict self-report loneliness in addition to the variance accounted for by age and sex in 28 countries (N = 8,345). Horizontal and vertical aspects of individualism and collectivism had small but significant contributions to predicting loneliness. Horizontal-collectivism (for 19 country samples) and, to a lesser extent, horizontal-individualism (for seven country samples), significantly predicted lower loneliness scores. Vertical-individualism (for 16 country samples), and to a lesser extent, vertical-collectivism (for six country samples), predicted feeling more loneliness among our participants. Adjusted R2 values suggested that between 0.6% and 27.7% of self-report loneliness was predicted. These results suggest that those who value egalitarian social relations also tend to report being less lonely whereas those who value individuality and competitiveness endorse the loneliness items more. These results are of importance to those investigating and helping lonely individuals by appreciating the influence of perceived culture.
