01 Individualism–Collectivism and Related Value Dimensions: A Comparative Study of Pakistani and Polish Students

Abstract

The study compared the cultural patterns in terms of collectivism individualism dimension and related values namely, humanism, materialism, liberalism, family function/structure and religiosity between Polish and Pakistani young adults. Ninety Pakistani and Polish students drawn randomly were administered Singelis, et al Individualism-Collectivism Questionnaire and Emic Culture Values and Scripts Questionnaire (ECVSQ) developed by Boski. Findings show that Polish sample scored higher on horizontal scales of both individualism and collectivism dimensions indicating them to be more humanist and less religious than the Pakistani subjects are. The hypotheses confirmed the existence of significant mean differences between collectivism-individualism and values dimensions between Polish and Pakistani samples. The results confirm the assertion that all humans have both individualist and collectivist values and response tendencies, but the cultural milieu and situation in which they find themselves determine the tendencies they will emphasize.