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Disadvantages Of Being An Individualist In An Individualistic Culture: Idiocentrism, Emotional Competence, Stress, And Mental Health, Gregory Scott, Joseph Ciarrochi, Frank Deane

joseph Ciarrochi

Based on past cross-cultural research, it was hypothesised that people who had strong individualistic values and beliefs within an individualistic culture would have smaller social support networks, lower emotional competence, lower intentions to seek help from a variety of sources, and poorer mental health. A total of 276 first-year students attending an Australian university completed an anonymous survey assessing individual differences in individualism (i.e., idiocentrism), social support, emotional competence, hopelessness, depression, and suicide ideation. As expected, idiocentrism was associated with smaller and less satisfying social support networks, less skill in managing both self and others' emotions, lower intentions to seek …