Key Dimensions and Validity of the Chinese Version of the Individualism-Collectivism Scale

Abstract

A Chinese version of the Individualism-Collectivism Scale (ICS) to assess cultural dimensions was developed and its psychometric properties were evaluated. The English version of the ICS was translated and back translated prior to its administration to 1760 participants who were divided into 5 age groups. Results indicated that the ICS-C exhibited moderate to high internal consistency with Cronbach’s alpha coefficients ranging from 0.64 to 0.83. The ICS-C also exhibited strong test-retest reliability with ICCs from 0.45 to 0.80. Confirmatory factor Analyses found the four-factor model was the best fit of the data across gender and age, thus supporting the multi-dimensional perspective of horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism. Furthermore, a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) revealed a significant main effect of age and gender. A gradual increase is present in subjective perception of societal emphasis on the cultural dimensions across five age groups, except age groups of 14 - 15 and 16 - 17 in vertical individualism. With respect to gender effect, female students showed a higher perception of the vertical collectivism than male students (p < 0.05). Thus, the results revealed that sufficient support for the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of ICS.