生活选择的重与轻：现代化如何预测中国个体主义的多重变迁

he shifts of individualism have long been a topic of academic attention. However, existing research on the shifts of individualism in China has yielded conflicting results.The present article suggests that such discrepancies may arise from the use of different measurement indicators for individualism across studies, and it is proposed that the practical manifestations of individualism can be categorised into two types based on daily life choices: individualistic high-stake choices (HSC, involving high opportunity costs) and individualistic low-stake choices (LSC,?involving low opportunity costs), with modernization having a stronger impact on individualistic HSC?than on individualistic LSC.Study 1, through a questionnaire survey (N?= 312), examined the Chinese participants perception of the significance of various life choices. The results revealed that life choices such as marriage, divorce, having children, and living apart from parents were significantly different from life choices of naming a newborn (male or female), showing that the former were individualistic high-stake choices whereas the latter represented individualistic low-stake choices.Study 2, through analyzing 30 years of panel data from 26 provinces in China, demonstrated: 1) Individualism (including HSC and LSC) at the provincial level in China generally showed an upward trend, and modernization significantly positively predicted both types of individualism; 2) Compared to?individualistic LSC, modernization showed stronger predictive power for individualistic HSC, along with smaller inter-provincial differences in the prediction trend.Taken together, by categorizing the measurement of individualism from the perspective of life choices, this study offers a new theoretical perspective for re-examining the shifts of individualism both within China and around the globe.