Values in the West: A Theoretical and Empirical Challenge to the Individualism-Collectivism Cultural Dimension

We present a theory and methods for characterizing cultures in terms of value priorities. Applying this approach with data from school-teacher samples in 46 nations reveals a shared value profile that distinguishes West European nations from the rest of the world. This value profile gives priority to Autonomy at the expense of Conservatism, Egalitarianism at the expense of Hierarchy, and Harmony at the expense of Mastery. Data from student samples in 41 nations replicate these findings. Both sets of data also reveal that the West European cultural profile differs substantially from the profile found in samples from the United States. The latter give greater priority to Mastery, Hierarchy and Conservatism values, and less to Egalitarianism, Intellectual Autonomy and Harmony values. Possible socio-historical sources of these cultural value priorities are suggested. The United States and Western Europe have been characterized together as prototypical "Western individualist" cultures. The findings show that they diverge culturally and that both exhibit elements that have been labelled both individualism and collectivism. Moreover, differences within the West are as large as differences between the West and East Asia. This illustrates the inadequacy of the individualism-collectivism dimension to describe cultures. The dimensions proposed here appear more promising for this purpose.