Individualism-Collectivism: A Brazilian-Portuguese Version of Triandis and Gelfand’s Scale

Abstract

Human values play an essential role in life, highlighting what is socially desirable and influencing people’s actions. In order to deliver a way of measuring such construct, this work aimed to test the stability of the horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism scale (HVIC) structure in Brazil through some of its states. Two studies were conducted. Study 1 presented the validation of the measurement tool replicating the original Triandis and Gelfand (1998) study, comparing similar samples in Brazil and the USA (undergraduate students; N = 200 to each group). The structure found was similar in both countries, but the modification indexes suggest a change in one item load compared to the original study. Study 2 compared data from five Brazilian states, (blue-collar workers; N = 5,589). Results revealed that the four-factor structure was well adjusted and showed minor differences between and within states. Practical and theoretical contributions were provided in particular for horizontal and vertical dimensions, in particular, challenging the horizontalism found in previous studies and suggesting other groups of references in Brazil.