I love watching baseball.
I especially love watching baseball across and within different cultures. Despite the sport’s universality—the game itself is played the same way globally—there are notable differences in the behaviors of the players and the fans that illuminate cultural variations.
For this reason, whenever I spend time in my motherland of South Korea, I enjoy attending baseball games and soaking up the experience. And it’s not just me; my American students who study abroad in South Korea consistently rate attending baseball games as one of their favorite activities in Seoul.
In my recently published book, Cultural Diversity and Psychology: A Christian Engagement (Baker Academic), I reflected on different types of individualism and collectivism that are evident in American (MLB) and Korean baseball games. I used this comparison to support the argument that the broad collectivism-individualism framework that we often default to when explaining cultural differences is not as compelling as more precise discussions of collectivism or individualism (e.g., vertical aspects; see Triandis & Gelfand, 1998).
Here is an excerpt from the book:
Returning to baseball, one of my favorite leisure activities when spending time in South Korea is to attend a professional baseball game. The rules of the sport itself are pretty much the same around the world, but the behaviors of the people—both fans and players—often illustrate some of the key differences between collectivism and individualism. The emphasis on both hierarchical connectedness (vertical collectivism) and interconnectedness with others (horizontal collectivism) is apparent whenever I attend baseball games in Korea, in contrast to the MLB games that I have attended in the U.S.
For example, in the MLB, whenever a player reaches first base, it is common for him to interact with the first baseman by doing things like striking up a casual conversation or exchanging friendly daps. In South Korea, this interaction between the first baseman and base runner often comes with a fascinating culture-specific variation: The younger player in the interaction will remove his hat and quickly bow to the older player, and the older player will likely respond with a pat on the backside or some other way of acknowledging the greeting (e.g., a nodding of the head).
You will also see a similar interaction if a batter is accidentally hit by a pitch from a younger pitcher; the pitcher will apologize with a deeper bow. Usually, the batter will accept the apology and indicate that he is fine by nodding or raising a hand reassuringly. These brief but unmistakable interactions are examples of vertical collectivism: respect for social hierarchy and, in this case, a hierarchy that is based on age. Even in a competitive sporting event that is meant to even out the playing field, vertical collectivism clearly manifests in this way.
Then there is horizontal collectivism, which prizes connectedness to one another. Of course, both MLB and Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) fans share in cheering loudly for their teams. But there are several aspects of cheering in the KBO that illustrate horizontal collectivism.
First, KBO cheering is done in complete unison, with thousands of people joining in. In the MLB, a typical baseball game will include several different types of noises, such as unintelligible yelling from those who have had one too many drinks, folks shouting words of appreciation or insult to the players, music on full blast that sometimes drowns out all other sounds, and the roar of the crowd, which includes many different noises forming a single sound. In contrast, South Korean baseball fans cheer in perfect synchrony. Each home team batter who comes to the plate is assigned a unique song, complete with a full set of lyrics, and everyone sings their heart out. Moreover, all songs and cheers are accompanied by a full dance routine choreographed and led by a group of professional cheerleaders.
Another aspect of horizontal collectivism is that you are connected with not just anyone but particularly to others who share in your own identity. That is, the in-group versus out-group mentality is especially strong in an interdependent context. In the MLB, it is not uncommon to see fans of the away team scattered here and there among the home crowd. They sometimes receive friendly banter from the home fans, and occasionally, the interactions turn combative. But it is an accepted reality that these away fans proudly donning the “enemy” jerseys will coexist among the majority who are rooting for the home team.
The away fans also show up at KBO games. But in contrast to their American counterparts, they sit together in a designated section, typically behind the third base line; the seats are unmistakable, brightly colored, and accompanied by their own cheerleading platform. As a result, the in-group and out-group membership is clearly differentiated at a KBO game.
Excerpted from Cultural Diversity and Psychology by Paul Youngbin Kim, ©2026. Used by permission of Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group.