Journal Article: Assistant Professor Heejung Park

The gross generalization that East is collectivistic and West is individualistic overlooks the within-group variability among East Asians in the current era of social change and globalization. The aim of this study was to disentangle the role of sociodemographic factors, ethnic heritage culture, and immigration in shaping the individualistic-collectivistic value orientations of Korean mothers and their fifth-grade children residing in rural Korea, urban Korea, and Koreatown, Los Angeles. A European American sample in Los Angeles provided an approximation of mainstream United States values. In semi-structured interviews, participants' value orientations were assessed using interpersonal dilemma scenarios in home and school situations. Participants' household sociodemographic factors were the most significant contributor to their home values: Higher maternal education was associated with orientation towards individualism, and three-generation households was associated with orienttion towards collectivism. When the sociodemographic factors were taken into consideration, Koreans were not more collectivistic than European Americans in the home domain. Domain-specificity was found such that individualism was greater in the school domain than in the home domain across the three groups of Koreans, who were as individualistic as European Americans in the school domain. Generational difference was found such that children were more collectivistic than mothers in the home domain. Rural Koreans were not more collectivistic than urban Koreans, which should be interpreted in the context of the high level of technology and education in the rural Korean environment.