Individualism and collectivism in the behavior of Costa Rican adolescents facinginequality in resource distribution

The importance of culture in inequality is recognized in the academic literature, but it is not clear through what mechanisms the two phenomena are related. The present study examined the influence of individualistic-collectivist cultural orientation on inequality in the distribution of resources in Costa Rican adolescents (N = 264, M age = 13.42 years, SD = .72, 50.8 % female). A quasi-experimental study was carried out with an agentive priming in three conditions (individualistic, collectivist and control) as the independent variable, and the Ultimatum Game -JdU- (in the pay-for-work version) as the dependent variable. Covariates included independent and interdependent self-concept, perception of inequality in everyday life, concern about money, religiosity, self-perception of social class, and sociodemographic characteristics. A significant association was found between individualistic priming and greater rejection of highly unequal treatment, although not with moderately unequal treatment, and there was no significance with collectivist priming. These findings indicate that cultural orientations play an important role in behavior in the face of social inequality. This study represents a methodological innovation by relating priming techniques with economic game techniques.