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Individualistic society vs collective
Individualism Versus Collectivism
Individualism Versus Collectivism
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It is human nature to see those who are different and group them into distinct categories. The distinction of Individualism versus Collectivism is one that is currently being studied extensively. On one side, individualism sees individuals as the fundamental unit of a society. Individuals are supposed to be unique, independent, and most importantly, willing to put their own interests above all others. On the other hand, collectivism views the basic building block of society as social groups, stressing the interpersonal bonds between people. Collectivist values dictate that group goals and values have higher precedence than an individual’s. Due to the seemingly polar opposite nature of these ideologies, it is inevitable that they will be compared to see which is more beneficial to the country and its people. Some might point to the success of the US, an extremely individualistic country, in support of individualistic values. They will point to the freedom of choice and diversity that individualism boasts of. Others stress the flaws of the US in response, and while both sides do have their truths, the costs that come with individualistic values are too great to be ignored. Highly individualistic attitudes have caused many large scale problems which have long been identified as difficult to resolve issues. These problems include, but are not limited to, promoting aggressive acts, creating an obsession with social power, and allowing a system of injustice to be born. This notion that individualistic values encourages aggressive acts, which are very forceful and often lead to many unpleasant interpersonal tensions, has been supported by many studies. In 2011, Gordon B. Forbes and other researchers at Millikan University performed a st... ... middle of paper ... ...314. Academic Search Premier. Web. 1 Nov. 2013. Wilson, Steffen and Gore, Jonathan. "Appalachian Origin Moderates The Association Between School Connectedness And Gpa: Two Exploratory Studies." Journal Of Appalachian Studies 15.1/2 (2009): 70-86. Academic Search Premier. Web. 30 Oct. 2013. Torelli, Carlos J., and Shavitt, Sharon. "Culture And Concepts Of Power." Journal Of Personality And Social Psychology 99.4 (2010): 703-723. PsycARTICLES. Web. 30 Oct. 2013. Zdaniuk, Agnes and Bobocel, D. Ramona. "Vertical Individualism And Injustice: The Self-Restorative Function Of Revenge." European Journal Of Social Psychology 42.5 (2012): 640-651. Academic Search Premier. Web. 31 Oct. 2013. Turner, Jack. "American Individualism And Structural Injustice: Tocqueville, Gender, And Race." Polity 40.2 (2008): 197-215. Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 31 Oct. 2013.
Sommers, Tamler. "The Two Faces Of Revenge: Moral Responsibility And The Culture Of Honor." Biology & Philosophy 24.1 (2009): 35-50. Academic Search Complete. Web. 15 Mar. 2014.
Source one demonstrates and embraces the perspective of a collectivist. The speaker of the source, Chief Seattle, a prominent leader of the Native American tribes, represents his collective point of view of how each and every one of us are connected illustrating the “web of life”. His statement indicates his primary focus of how humans are creatures that needs to be dependent on others in order to survive. This view is placed on the left side on the political spectrum with the assumptions that all people are created equal where they value the goals of the group and the common good over the individual goals and rights. The way he stated that, “whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves”, strongly expressed a collective perspective and that the actions of an individual will not only affect himself/herself, but others as well. An example would be global warming, it will not only affect the countries that create pollutions, but everyone else is also involved and affected in this issue. People may call it the ‘butterfly effect’, where it is a scientific theory that describes how one s...
The word collectivism often makes people cringe. Overall, there is a general fear of not being able to make personal decisions in America. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, collectivism can be defined as; emphasis on collective rather than individual action or identity (“Collectivism”). In Anthem, Ayn Rand describes an extreme collectivist society. Although Anthem’s society seems extremely surreal, aspects of its collectivist society closely mirror today’s society.
"Sociological Theories To Explain Deviance." Sociological Theories To Explain Deviance. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2013. .
This article provides me a detailed research on a group of American and Chinese adults with plenty of data and analysis. They provided a lot of real and objective opinion on the comparison between individualism and collectivism. The fact of the whole respondents are students gives me an advantage on finding better ways to understand and use this research in my
Collectivism is a group that share one only goal and does not accept any individual to think or act on their own. Individuals should sacrifice they desires for the group and focus only on the demands of its organization.
The debate over individualism and collectivism has been the fundamental conflict both in political philosophy and in ethics. Philosophers such as Ayn Rand think that human beings are fundamentally individuals, and that everyone exists for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself. But it is very rare for one to live completely alone by himself. The entire human race would not be able to evolve and reproduce, if humans were individualistic in nature, and each individual needs some form of support from group to enhance its own odds of surviving. Humans naturally are in need of each other to survive, to reproduce, and to protect their offspring. Such needs are innately built into every human being, and
...bol of individualism. As reason defines, it’s sensible to define individuals, individually; as separate entities. Collectivism, on the other hand, undermines this principle. Ironically, this lack of reason is exactly what allows for it to achieve political and societal success—by utilizing the undefeatable irrationality.
The next communication gap concerns with the individualism- collectivism dimension, which is the degree an individual is integrated into groups in a society (Hofstede, 2001). Individualistic cultures like the U.S put a strong emphasis on individual autonomy and independence, whereas collectivist cultures like Vietnam believe in belonging, obligation
Comparing the past to the present, one of the things that have not changed in the economy is the people’s love for money. Lots of money. There have been many attempts to further increase the amount of money that an economy or an individual can gain. Whether this is through ideas like welfare state where the government supports its people by providing things such as financial support or individualistic ideas like pursuing your own self-interest. The source provided wants all of us to believe that by supporting the ideologies of collectivism through welfare state, it will only result with us depending on the government instead of striving for our own success. The statement from the source, “The welfare state arose out of a misguided desire to
“Individualistic cultures, in the western-hemisphere, [such as the United States,] emphasize… personal identity and self-determination. Conformity is far less pervasive in individualistic societies because democratic choices and laissez-faire viewpoints are somewhat considered.”
Hypothesis: “We hypothesize that the performance of individual members in such situations is likely to be highest when the members hold both individualist and collectivist orientations toward their work” (Hollenbeck, Humphrey, Meyer, Wagner, 2012, pg. 947).
Norms of Revenge. 4. Blackwell Publisher, 1990. 862. eBook. . Bar-elli, G. and Heyd, D. (1986), Can revenge be just or otherwise justified?.
In their book Homicide, evolutionary psychologists Margo Wilson and Martin Daly identify one such conflict between human nature and the contemporary cultural order. They argue that humans have an innate concept of justice which is based on the idea of personal revenge. According to this concept of justice, it is legitimate and even praise-worthy for people to whom a wrong has been done to avenge the wrong-doing themselves.
Human beings desire bonds with others and have a strong affiliation motive (Baumeister & Leary, 1995). Thus, it is essential for individuals to maintain their good relationships with others. However, interpersonal conflicts often occur in even such relationships, and the dyad divides into perpetrator and victim. The perpetrator feels guilt toward their transgression and motivates behaviors toward the victim (e.g., compensatory behavior) to restore the relationship (Baumeister, Stillwell, & Heatherton, 1994). On the other hand, the victim also tries to repair the relationship by expressing forgiveness to the perpetrator (Burnette, McCullough, Van Tongeren, & Davis, 2012). To restore their good relationship, both of perpetrators