COLLECTIVISTIC AND INDIVIDUALISTIC LIVING AND THEIR ASSOCIATION WITH DEPRESSION

Abstract

The present study explored the impact of individualistic and collectivistic living on depression. It examined whether individualistic and rural migrants have higher depressive symptoms than those with collectivistic mentality as well as rural and urban participants. Two hundred participants aged between sixteen and sixty six representing collectivism and individualism were recruited from the rural, rural-urban and urban communities. They comprised sixty rural participants, sixty rural migrants and eighty urban participants. The results revealed that social support is inversely related to depressive symptoms. The individualistic and rural migrants had higher depressive symptoms as compared to collectivistic participants as well as rural and urban participants. Maximizing social support in communities and in the lives of people might be useful in preventing depression.