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Culture and human behavior
Culture and human behavior
The influence of culture on personality
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Individualism-collectivism Lukes (1973) first introduced the constructs of collectivism and individualism. Collectivism centers on the collective group and values interdependence, whilst individualism centers on the individual and values independence (Luke,1973). In a literature review, Triandis (1993) introduced the idea of collectivism and individualism as `cultural syndromes´. He identifies a cultural syndrome as the tendency of little within-group variance for cultural elements such as values, norms and beliefs within a group which also shares language and geographical location, when these elements centre on a particular theme. There is considerable evidence for the links between Western societies and individualism and between Eastern cultures and collectivism (Heinrich, Heine & Norenzayan, 2010). Triandis, McCusker & Hui (1990) found that members of Eastern cultures perceive their in-group as more homogenous than the out-group, compared to members of Western cultures. Furthermore, they found that members of Eastern cultures value the well being of the in-group over their personal goals, whilst members of Western cultures typically value the individuals welfare and goals over the well being of their in-group. Examples of Western cultures that have been found to have high levels of individualism are Germany (Darwish & Huber, 2003), the US (Kim & Markus, 1999), Norway (Birkelund, 2000; Syverstad, 2009), Australia, Great Britain and France (Hosfstede, 1980). Smith and Bond (1993) suggest acculturation is constantly proceeding in the direction of individualism, consequently moving away from collectivistic values. In support of this, a longitudinal study by Hofstede (1980) found that individualism significantly increas... ... middle of paper ... ...nd collectivistic cultures for different social phenomenons, such as attributional bias (Al-Zahrani & Kaplowitz, 1993), subject well-being (Ahuvia, 2002), entrepreneurship (Tiessen, 1997) and group creativity (Goncalo & Staw, 2006). Research has particularly focused on comparing these two types of cultures for levels of conformity (Bond & Smith, 1996; Ng, 2003), where the main finding is that members of individualistic cultures conform to social information to a lesser extent than is observed in collectivist cultures. Importantly, the majority of such research is restricted to the categories of individualism and collectivism (Kim & Markus, 1999; Sistrunk, Clement and Guenther, 1971; Ng, 2003), for which a culture is either considered to belong in one or the other, thus neglecting between-culture variance in individualism/collectivism within the categories.
Collectivism is any philosophic, political, religious, economic, or social outlook that emphasizes the interdependence of every human. Collectivism is a basic cultural element that exists as the reverse of individualism in human nature (in the same way high context culture exists as the reverse of low cont...
... middle of paper ... ... The metaphysical basis of collectivism is, "There are no men but only the great WE." The moral basis is, "We exist through, by and for our brothers." The implication is that things that exist have the right to exist, and things that do not exist have no right.
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
A culture’s tendency to be individualistic or collectivistic can be found at the root of
276). Curtin’s Coculturation (2010) combats this hegemonic discourse by stating, “everyone is continually engaged in social and political processes of identification” (p. 283). Thus, one’s identity can consist of multiple cultures and they can in fact coincide. The idea that one group “belongs” in a particular imagined community is a myth, there is no single response or adaption. The theory of Coculturation ultimately accommodates to a more realistic approach to cultural adjustment where a newcomer can adopt some behavior of the host culture while still maintaining the conciliatory and subconscious aspects of their native
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.”
Mark Twain once said, “A round man cannot be expected to fit in a square hole right away. He must have time to modify his shape.” This quote revolves around the idea of conformity. Conformity or collectivism is the tendency to align attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors with those around you. It's a powerful force that can take the form of overt social pressure or subtler unconscious influence. As much as people think of themselves as individuals, the fact is that we're driven to fit in, and that usually means going with the flow. The problem with conformity or collectivism is the loss of individuality.
Acculturation and assimilation are treated as complex, multifaceted phenomena. The acceptance of new cultural traits or social associations and retention of traditional cultural traits and social associations are viewe...
3) What they found: What they found in the end was that an individual’s performance is most efficient he/she participates in activities that held individualism-like and collectivism-like tasks. They also found several key points that boded well in terms of different assets. The assets discovered are as followed:
I never even thought about this word “individualism” before I came to America. Instead of collective, normal is the way I considered as my culture, and for American culture, I would say they are selfish and unkindly sometimes back then. However, after my 2-year study here and all the research I’ve been read for this paper, now I say that neither individualism nor collectivism is purely bad or good.
Teske, Raymond H.C., Jr., and Bardin H. Nelson. Acculturation and Assimilation: A Clarification 1.2 (1974): 351-67. Jstor.org. Jstor.org/journals, Feb. 2013. Web. 15 Nov. 2013.
In today's society, with the advent of modern digital communication and an increased focus upon global society and diversity, humans have a golden opportunity to evaluate themselves and how they identify both individually and in their broader culture. Although the question of “who am I” is perhaps one of the classical questions of the human cognizance of identity, our identity as both groups and individuals is directly related to the culture we are a part of, especially in regards to whether that culture is determined to be individualistic or collectivist. These differing mindsets have an inherent connection to the way that we view ourselves and the impact of interactions between different cultures.
In the end, what we learn from this article is very realistic and logical. Furthermore, it is supported with real-life examples. Culture is ordinary, each individual has it, and it is both individual and common. It’s a result of both traditional values and an individual effort. Therefore, trying to fit it into certain sharp-edged models would be wrong.