Tuesday, 16th September 2025, 2:30pm (HKT) at CVA 1022 and on Zoom
Since Hofstede’s seminal work on cultural dimensions in 1980 and Triandis’s influential volume Individualism and Collectivism (1995), the construct of collectivism has become a cornerstone in cross-cultural psychology and communication, particularly to study East Asian societies. Its ubiquity in scholarly discourse, however, often overlooks a deeper issue: the conceptual and methodological limitations that continue to shape and constrain how collectivism is understood and measured. This seminar reexamines collectivism, not as a static cultural trait but as a multifaceted phenomenon. We will consider the assumptions embedded in its definition, explore the cultural blind spots in its operationalization, and consider alternative frameworks that offer richer, more context-sensitive insights. By unpacking these challenges, we can move beyond the cultural binary of individualism-collectivism and toward a more nuanced understanding of cultural attitudes and behaviors.
DEBORAH CAI (Ph.D., Michigan State University) is Professor and Acting Dean of Temple University’s Klein College of Media and Communication. Deborah is an international researcher with expertise in intercultural communication, persuasion, and negotiation and conflict management. She has conducted research and trained leaders from countries including China, Japan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, and developing nations from the Asian Pacific Economic Commission (APEC). Deborah is a Fellow and president-elect in the International Academy for Intercultural Research and a Fellow and past president of the International Association for Conflict Management (IACM). She is a Scholar in Residence and past chair of the Conflict Management Division of the Academy of Management. She served as editor of Negotiation and Conflict Management Research and is editor of the four-volume Intercultural Communication (Sage). Her work appears in top journals and handbooks, and she is co-editor of the forthcoming Handbook of Research on Communication and Negotiation (Edward Elgar).
To attend in person, please click here to register:
To attend on Zoom, please click here to register:
For enquiries: cmcr@hkbu.edu.hk
Organised by Centre for Media and Communication Research, School of Communication, Hong Kong Baptist University
