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• 1 2021-07-07T21:40:01+00:00 Individualism and Collectivism 4 plain 2021-07-08T17:31:16+00:00

  “Individualism (IND)-collectivism (COL) has held the top spot among representative dimensions distinguishing the West from the East for many years”(Her & Joo, 2018). 
  
  

  Individualism is the prominence and importance of the individual instead of the group (Stephanie M. Walls, 2015). Notable characteristics of individualistic cultures consist of competition, self-reliance and self-enhancement, personal achievement, hierarchies, and economic inequality (Webster et al., 2021). Today, “Modern individualism compromises the promotion and realization of the public interest...people are taught that the “public” is something else and is separate from the individual.” (Stephanie M. Walls, 2015). 

  Collectivism, the opposing dimension for individualism, is “the state of mind wherein the values and goals of the group, whether extended family, ethnic group or company is primary” (Mangundjaya, 2013). There is a prioritization of cooperation, communal living, and group and family-based living in collectivist cultures (Webster et al., 2021). Group consideration is the precedent in collectivist societies with ideals of “harmony, preserving the honor and prestige of the family of origin, extended family, ethnic group, and nation” are paramount (Jarolmen, 2020). 

  Additional characteristics separate individualism and collectivism. For example, communication styles are vastly different: individualistic societies are blunt, direct, and forthright. However, bluntness or frankness is considered disrespectful and condemnable in a collectivist society (Webster et al., 2021). Another crucial distinction between individualism and collectivism is the value of privacy. In individualistic lives, people merit privacy, seclusion, and independence from others. But, in collectivist cultures, “people immerse themselves in others lives” (Indonesian Culture, 2016). 

  However, it is essential to understand that individualism and collectivism are not absolutes to describe a culture of an entire country. Increasing globalization and modernization have prompted a “cultural acculturation” (Her & Joo, 2018). Therefore, we must modify the labels we attach to countries, societies, or cultures. To adapt we must: “First...analyze and set up the concept of IND-COL precisely. Second, culture psychologists need to elaborate instruments and introduce social-ecological variables, cultural products, and qualitative approaches. Third, they need to diversify the sampling target. Fourth, future research required specifying the sampling target more specifically. Fifth, INC-COL studies need to solve the issue due to the level of analysis” (Her & Joo, 2018). These steps allow researchers to make better arguments and analyses of cultures. For example, The United States is generally considered individualistic. However, California is a collectivist state. Research claims that many factors can influence divergence from the norm of individualistic or collectivist orientations like “state-level poverty, population density, percentage of non-Whites, the historical prevalence of slavery, and racial and sexual inequality” (Webster et al., 2021).