The lifestyle radicals of the '60s saw themselves as heirs to this American tradition of self-expression; today, it energizes the Tea Party movement, marching to defend individual liberty from the smothering grasp of European-style collectivism. And when it comes to questions about how much the respondents value the individual against the collective that is, how much they give priority to individual interest over the demand of groups, or personal conscience over the orders of authority Americans consistently answer in a way that favors the group over the individual. In fact, we are more likely to favor the group than Europeans are. Surprising as it may sound, Americans are much more likely than Europeans to say that employees should follow a boss's orders even if the boss is wrong; to say that children "must" love their parents; and to believe that parents have a duty to sacrifice themselves for their children. Though Americans do score high on a couple of aspects of individualism, especially where it concerns government intervening in the market, in general, we are likelier than Europeans to believe that individuals should go along and get along.
