22nd Annual Student Research Conference
Personality, Behavior, and Social Attitudes: Collectivism and Individualism as Predictors of Helping Behavior
Joshua A. Hallows
Dr. Karen Vittengl, Faculty Mentor
The relationships between collectivism, individualism, altruism, and helping behavior were investigated. Twenty-nine Midwest United States university students taking undergraduate psychology courses participated in this study. Participants were presented with the opportunity to help a confederate pick up a stack of books that he had accidentally dropped. Dr. Daphna Oyserman's (1993) Collectivism and Individualism scales were used to measure the personality constructs of collectivism and individualism, and Rushton's (1981) Self-Report Altruism scale (SRA) was used to measure the personality construct of altruism. There was a significant positive correlation between individualism and altruism (p < 0.05), and a slight, but nonsignificant, positive correlation between individualism and collectivism (computed p = 0.056). This research has important implications for the assessment of individualism and collectivism, as well as their relationship with altruism and helping behavior.
Keywords: Personality, Social, Behavior, Psychology, Collectivism, Individualism, Attitudes
Topic(s):Psychology
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: 3-5
Location: PML
Time: 4:15