Jurgen Becker

Comparing the Horizontal and Vertical Individualism and Collectivism Scale and the Auckland Individualism and Collectivism Scale in Two Cultures Switzerland and South Africa

This study investigated the psychometric properties of the Horizontal and Vertical Individualism and Collectivism Scale (HVIC) and the Auckland Individualism and Collectivism Scale (AICS). The sample consisted of 1,403 working individuals from Switzerland (N = 585) and from South Africa (N = 818). Principal component factor analyses indicated that a two-factor structure replicated well across the two countries for both scales. In addition, the HVIC four-factor structure replicated well across countries, whereas the responsibility dimension of individualism of the AICS replicated poorly. Confirmatory factor analyses provided satisfactory support to the original theoretical models for both the HVIC and the AICS. Equivalence measurement indices indicated that the cross-cultural replicability properties of both instruments are generally acceptable. However, canonical correlations and correlations between the HVIC and AICS dimensions confirm that these two instruments differ in their underlying meaning of the individualism and collectivism constructs, suggesting that these two instruments assess individualism and collectivism differently.

Stress and coping of police officers in the South African Police Service

Working in the police service can be physically and emotionally demanding. Officers use various coping methods to deal with the stressors. The main aim of this study was to investigate which coping responses are used most by police officers in the South African Police Service and to investigate how the prevalence of these coping responses changes over time. A longitudinal approach was used where data were collected at three different points in time. The final sample (n = 120) was used for this study. The results indicate that police officers predominantly use planful problem-solving, positive reappraisal, and confrontive coping to deal with their daily stress. Planful problem-solving and positive reappraisal are seen as adaptive ways of dealing with stress, while the outcomes of confrontive coping are context dependent. The coping responses of seeking social support, escape avoidance, and accepting responsibility were used less frequently. The results indicate that coping styles change over time as police officers accepted significantly less responsibility, made less use of confrontive coping, and relied more on planful problem-solving, positive reappraisal, and escape avoidance. The findings of this study have important implications for the diagnosis and treatment of stress of active police officers. It is recommended that interventions such as emotional competence training be used to reinforce and refresh positive coping strategies to enhance the emotional well-being of police officers.

The moderating effects of culture-driven individual differences in the stress-strain relationships: comparison between Switzerland and South Africa

ABSTRACT This study investigated the moderating effects of culture-driven individual differences in the relationship between work conditions and work-related health outcomes in Switzerland and South Africa: Swiss natives (n = 397) and Swiss foreigners (n = 224), White South Africans (n = 432) and non-White South Africans (n = 434). We used the horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism scale to measure culture-driven individual differences, the Job Content Questionnaire to measure psychological job demands, and the General Health Questionnaire and the General Work Stress Scale to measure work-related health outcomes. Results suggest that high vertical individualism had a general buffering effect in the stress–strain relationship among the South African White group. Low vertical collectivism played a similar role among the South African non-White group and the Swiss foreigners group, while high horizontal collectivism had a detrimental effect in stressful work conditions in both South African groups. Finally, horizontal individualism had no moderating effect. Generally, our study suggests that to investigate the moderating role of culture-driven individual differences according to the ethnic group of belonging is promising, given that the same individual characteristic does not necessarily interact in the same way in the stress–strain relationship.