Horizontal and Vertical Individualism and Collectivism: Implications for Understanding Psychological Processes

This chapter reviews findings that support a horizontal-vertical distinction within the broader categories of individualism and collectivism. The chapter highlights several sources of value for this distinction-as a predictor of new phenomena not anticipated by a focus on individualism and collectivism, and as a basis for refining the understanding of existing phenomena linked to individualism and collectivism. This chapter describes the horizontal-vertical distinction and its measurement, and review several lines of research in which it contributes to predicting the role of culture in shaping perceptions, motives, values, and social relations. Coverage is structured around a core set of questions: Who am I and what do I value? How should I present myself to others? How do I perceivethe social environment? This chapter closes by discussing implications for understanding consumer psychology, and future directions for research on the horizontal-vertical distinction.