Question

Individualism is an important cultural dimension in America. What is individualism, and how does it impact the way that we think of ourselves? Contrast your answer with the concept of collectivism and how it makes a person think of himself or herself.

Answer 1

• Coming from an individualistic western American culture is very different from,coming from a collectivistic eastern Indian or Asian cultures.
• Individualism holds that individual people are the main building blocks of society and that the individual is the most important thing. Collectivism holds that the group is more important. It holds that society is and should be made up of groups and that people as individuals are less important than groups as a whole.
• People from individualistic cultures like America are more likely to have an independent view of themselves;they see themselves as separate from others, define themselves based on their personal traits, and see their characteristics as relatively stable and unchanging.
• On the other hand, people from collectivistic cultures like India orJapan are more likely to have an interdependent view of themselves'they see themselves as connected to others, define themselves in terms of relationships with others, and see their characteristics as more likely to change across different contexts.
• People living in America are individualistic,which influences their sense of self making them different from individuals living in India or Japan who are collectivists.Individualism makes american people more independent and self reliant compared to indian or asian people who are more dependent on their families and friends for support.
• American people do not identify with group mentality like Indian or Asian people,who like working in teams.Americans see each other as only loosely linked, and value personal goals over group interests.
• In an individualistic culture, self-expression is highly valued, making the display rules less strict and allowing people to display intense emotion such as: happiness, anger, love, etc. While in a collectivist culture, moderation and self-control is highly valued for the well being of the group, and collectivist cultures therefore tend to restrain from showing emotion in public.
• People in collectivist cultures view themselves as people oriented,having the communication skills to interact with groups,in contrast to people from individualistic cultures,who do not really recognize themselves as "peoples' person".
• People from individualistic cultures are more likely to mention personal traits when finishing the sentence “I am…”, while people from collectivistic cultures are more likely to list relationships and group memberships.
• Psychologists have suggested that East Asians are less likely to talk about a stressful event because doing so can present a challenge to relationships in collectivistic cultures. Instead, individuals from East Asian cultures are more likely to seek out implicit social support, which involves spending time with close others without actually talking about a stressor.