Personal Collectivism Essay

Personality is shaped by biological and cultural influences. Culture shapes patterns of socialisation, which shapes variance in personality (Triandis & Suh, 2002). The study of personality across cultures is useful as it informs us of variation between cultures, and similarities within cultures, thereby offering evidence of aggregate cultural characteristics (John & Srivastava, 1999). Culture may be considered as society's collective memory (Triandis, 2001), and important aspects of culture are termed cultural syndromes(Triandis, 2001; Caldwell-Harris & Ayçiçegi, 2006), and Individualism and collectivism are examples. Collectivist culture refers interdependency within in-groups and prioritising the needs of the group above the individual. Conversely, individualist cultures, which favour autonomy and independence, giving priority to their personal goals (Triandis, 2001). Personality refers to an individual's stable characteristic patterns of thought and behaviour and includes characteristics of collectivism and individualism (Yamaguchi, Kuhlman & Sugimori, 1995). A person with individualist characteristics is termed idiocentric, and someone with personal collectivist characteristics is termed allocentric (Caldwell-Harris & Ayçiçegi, 2006). This review aims to assess the available research regarding

Additionally, this research topic requires further exploration with more generalisable samples. Several of the studies noted here only used undergraduate students as their participants, which does not inform us of whether or not personality, self-concept and well-being are enduring across the lifespan. Research could also look into adjustment in individuals that migrate between collectivist and individualists cultures, and how their personality