Harry Triandis
Greek-born American social and cross-cultural psychologist
Psychologist at the University of Illinois whose research made individualism and collectivism a main way to compare cultures. Colleagues called him the father of modern cross-cultural psychology.
Why this person matters
Triandis studied engineering before turning to social psychology, and colleagues describe him as a founder of cross-cultural psychology. His individualism-collectivism work shaped textbook comparisons of cultures. Co-authors, students and the wider cross-cultural community tested and extended these ideas.
Main contributions
Individualism and collectivism
His research made individualism-collectivism one of the main ways to describe cultures. Individualist cultures prioritise personal goals; collectivist cultures emphasise group needs and duties. He reported that the United States was more individualistic than Europe and far more than any other region.
Subjective culture
He studied the cognitive side of attitudes, norms, roles and values across cultures, including The Analysis of Subjective Culture (published in 1971 or 1972, depending on the source).
Building the field
He published the six-volume Handbook of Cross-Cultural Psychology and served as president of six associations, including the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology.
Context and limits
The individualism-collectivism contrast has been criticised in related work: critics of national-level scores warn that country averages do not describe individuals (see the Hofstede entry). The sources used here give no direct critique of Triandis's own models.
In your introductory course
Culture and diversity.Appears in culture and social psychology chapters when comparing individualist and collectivist societies. Students meet him as the researcher behind that vocabulary.
Related course reading: Psychology 2e, section 1.3. This is course context rather than a biographical source.
Years of active work
- 1958
Took a PhD in social psychology at Cornell and joined the University of Illinois.
- 1983
Served as Distinguished Fulbright Professor to India.
- 1997
Became professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Illinois.
- 2009
Published Fooling Ourselves, which received the William James Award from the American Psychological Association's General Psychology division.
Sources
- IACCP, IACCP remembers Harry TriandisSociety or association. Institutional biography inspected.
- University of Illinois Department of Psychology, Celebrating the Life of Harry TriandisUniversity. Institutional biography inspected.
- Wikipedia, Harry C. TriandisReference work. Reference article inspected.