Individual differences in collectivism predict city identification and city evaluation in Australian, French and Turkish cities

Abstract

Collectivism is a sociocultural variable that predicts how people relate to social groups. Cities are social groups. Hence, collectivism should predict how people relate to cities. To test this prediction, the researchers sampled 1660 residents of four cities in three countries. Participants completed an online survey containing measures of collectivism, city identification, and city evaluation. Results showed that, within each city sample and across the combined samples, a specific measure of collectivism called collective interdependent self-construal was positively related to city evaluation. Furthermore, city identification mediated the relation between collective interdependent self-construal and city evaluation. These results demonstrate that people's general tendency to construe social groups as part of their self predicts their identification with their city, which in turn helps to explain their positive appraisal of their city. These results are discussed from the perspectives of both environmental psychology and social psychology.