Within-culture variations of uniqueness: towards an integrative approach based on social status, gender, life contexts, and interpersonal comparison.
Research on uniqueness is widely focused on cross-cultural comparisons and tends to postulate a certain form of within-culture homogeneity. Taking the opposite course of this classic posture, we aimed at testing an integrative approach enabling the study of within-culture variations of uniqueness. This approach considered different sources of variation: social status, gender, life contexts, and interpersonal comparison. Four hundred seventy-nine participants completed a measure based on descriptions of "self" and "other." Results showed important variations of uniqueness. An interaction between social status and life contexts revealed the expression of uniqueness in the low-status group. This study highlights the complexity of uniqueness that appears to be related to both cultural ideology and social hierarchy.
Elsa
E
Causse
Marie-Line
ML
Félonneau
D000328:Adult; D003469:Culture; D004651:Employment / Q000523:psychology; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D033062:Friends / Q000523:psychology; D005783:Gender Identity; D006608:Hierarchy, Social; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009790:Occupations