Societies differ in whether they treat individuals or groups as the basic social unit.

Evidence

While there are many possible ways to explore this issue, in this chapter our focus is on the way in which societies can focus members’ attention on group versus individual frames of reference. Current cultural research and theoriz­ ing distinguish between cultures and societies that tend to focus more on the individual and those that focus more on the group as the basic social unit of analysis (e.g., Triandis, 1995). These cultural frames are termed individualistic and collectivistic, respectively (e.g., Hofstede, 1980; Schwartz, 1990). — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide, 1024

Categorization

• DEFINE: Establishes the individualism/collectivism distinction and its core-unit-of-analysis logic, the framing device the chapter’s scapegoating argument rests on.
• XREF: Connects to the reader’s inclusion-need/small-exclusive-subgroup literature, which also pits individual belonging against group boundary maintenance. — connects to: People vary in how much they define themselves through others. — Brandon Randolph-Seng, Darcy A. Reich, and Kenneth G. DeMarree, On the Nonconscious Antecedents of…, 13; Any social group can act as individual or aggregate depending on its relational frame. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 631

Broader Connections

• People vary in how much they define themselves through others. #exemplifies (0.85) — Brandon Randolph-Seng, Darcy A. Reich, and Kenneth G. DeMarree, On the Nonconscious Antecedents of…, 13
• Any social group can act as individual or aggregate depending on its relational frame. #expands (0.80) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 631