Self-Regulation Across Cultures: New Perspective on Culture and Cognition Research

Individualism-collectivism is one dimension of culture that gave rise to much research in the field. This dimension in essence captures variations in the ways in which individuals relate to others within society. In individualistic societies (e.g., North America), individuals are understood to be autonomous and relatively independent of others, and there tends to be a clear distinction between the self and others. In contrast, in collectivistic societies (e.g., societies in East Asia) individuals are deeply integrated within their social network (e.g., roles and obligations) and the boundary between the self and others tend to be relatively less distinct (Markus & Kitayama, 1991; Triandis, 1995).