“Why should people in one part of the globe have developed collectivist cultures,while others went individualist? The key is how culture is shaped by the way peopletraditionally made a living, which in turn is shaped by ecology. In East Asia it's allabout rice. Rice requires massive amounts of communal work. Not just backbreakingplanting and harvesting, which are done in rotation because the entire village isneeded to harvest each family's rice."

 - Robert M. Sapolsky -  

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Cultural Dimensions: Collectivism/Individualism (G. Hofstede) 

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Include (but are not limited to) mostLatin-American, Southern European,Middle-Easterner, Asian, Africancountries, tribal communities aroundthe world.

Include (but are not limited to) mostWestern societies: English-, Germanspeaking countries, Scandinaviancountries, other central and northernEuropean countries.

IndividualisticCultures

CollectivistCultures

Cultural Dimensions: Collectivism/Individualism (G. Hofstede) 

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Cultural Dimensions: Collectivism/Individualism (G. Hofstede) 

Individualistic Cultures: I 

Focus is on personal priorities and self-realization.People emphasize

individual freedom and achievements

Independence and self-reliance are highly valued.

People are expected totake care of themselvesand a few loved ones

and to take responsibility for the outcomes

Private life isimportant andunlikely to be

"intruded" by othermembers of the

groups individualsbelong to

Self-concepts are based on personal traits rather than social

roles ("I am kind" vs "Iam a good son" typical

of collectivist societies)

Individualistic Cultures: I

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Cultural Dimensions: Collectivism/Individualism (G. Hofstede) 

Confrontation is accepted, peopleare encouraged to

express theiropinions and to be

assertive

People in individualistic

cultures (typicallyWestern societies)

appear to be happier than those

in collectivist cultures

Happiness is reserved for those

who aresuccessful or perceive

themselves assuch

Work is seen as a key factor to

happiness in termsof pleasant feelings,

satisfyingjudgments,

self-validation

Collectivist Cultures: WE

Collective interest is more important

than personal interest.The focus is on

preserving harmonyand respecting

hierarchy within thecommunity

Members of collectivecultures are highlylikely to practice

extreme self-control,since they are fully

aware that their wordsand actions have an

impact on others

Group oriented(family, extended

family, tribe,organization, etc).

The group takes careof individuals,

individuals are loyalto the group they

belong to

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Cultural Dimensions: Collectivism/Individualism (G. Hofstede) 

One’s identity andreputation is

defined in terms ofsocial roles  ("I am

a good son")

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Cultural Dimensions: Collectivism/Individualism (G. Hofstede) 

Collectivist Cultures: WE

Relationships areusually formed

within the groupmembers belong

to, ofteninaccessible to

outsiders

Selflessness andconformity are

valued, personalachievements are likely

to be portrayed as aresult of external factors

rather than personal merit

Non-verbalcommunication is

common and aimed atpreventing a "loss of

face" (public humiliationand embarrassment)

from happening

Communicationdoes heavily rely

on context. "I" is a not

commonly usedword

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Cultural Dimensions: Collectivism/Individualism (The Globe study) 

The Globe study (House & Javidan, 2004) makes a distinction between Institutionaland In-group Collectivism:

In-group Collectivism is “the degree towhich individuals express pride, loyalty,and cohesiveness in theirorganizations or families”. Societiesthat score high on In-groupCollectivism and (relatively) low onInstitutional collectivism can be foundin Latin America, in Eastern Europe, inSub-Saharan Africa, in the Middle East,in Latin Europe. Institutional Collectivism is “the degree

to which organizational and societalinstitutional practices encourage andreward collective distribution ofresources and collective action”. Nordiccountries (Nordic cluster) are anexample of societies that score high onInstitutional Collectivism and low on In-group collectivism.

In individualistic societies, the maintool of social control is guilt (note:guilt cultures are also knows asdignity cultures).

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"Guilt is a feeling that arises when weviolate the absolute standards ofmorality within us, when we violate ourconscience. A person may suffer fromguilt although no one else knows of hisor her misdeed; this feeling of guilt isrelieved by confessing the misdeed andmaking restitution. True guilt culturesrely on an internalized conviction of sinas the enforcer of good behaviour, not,as shame cultures do, on externalsanctions. Guilt cultures emphasizepunishment and forgiveness as ways ofrestoring the moral order".

(Paul Hiebert)

Cultural Dimensions: Collectivism/Individualism - Tools of Social Control 

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"Shame is a reaction to other people'scriticism, an acute personal chagrin at ourfailure to live up to our obligations and theexpectations others have of us. In trueshame-oriented cultures, every person has aplace and a duty in the society. Onemaintains self-respect, not by choosing whatis good rather than what is evil, but bychoosing what is expected of one. Personaldesires are sunk in the collective expectation.Those who fail will often turn their aggressionagainst themselves instead of using violenceagainst others. By punishing themselves theymaintain their self-respect before others, forshame cannot be relieved, as guilt can be, byconfession and atonement. Shame isremoved and honour restored only when aperson does what the society expects of himor her in the situation".

(Paul Hiebert)

Cultural Dimensions: Collectivism/Individualism - Tools of Social Control 

In collectivist societies, the maintool of social control is shame(there are however significantdifferences between face culturesand honor-shame cultures. Seenext slide for details).

A 2010 study suggest that while in Confucian-based collectivist societies peoplebehave modestly in order to preserve harmony within the group, "honor basedcollectivism does not highlight modesty but rather emphasizes the public nature ofself-worth and the need to protect and maintain honor through positivepresentation of oneself and in-group members".

Honor-shame societies are typical ofthe Mediterranean region, LatinAmerica, the Middle East, Africa,South-East Asia, Eastern Europe.

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Cultural Dimensions: Collectivism/Individualism - Tools of Social Control 

Shame/face societies are typical ofthe Confucian-Asia cluster.

SOURCES

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Hofstede, Geert (2001). Culture's Consequences: comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations acrossnations (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA

Hofstede, Geert H. (1997). Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. New York: McGraw-Hill

Ye D, Ng YK, Lian Y. Culture and Happiness. Soc Indic Res. 2014;123(2):519-547

Diener, E., & Diener, M. (1995). Cross-cultural correlates of life satisfaction and self-esteem. Journal of Personality andSocial Psychology, 68, 653-663

Lu, L. (2001). Understanding Happiness: A Look into the Chinese Folk Psychology. Journal of Happiness Studies 2(4), p.407-432. DOI: 10.1023/A:1013944228205

Oishi S., & Diener E. (2001). Goals, culture, and subjective well-being. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 1674-1682

Hiebert, Paul G. (1985). Anthropological Insights for Missionaries. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House

House, R., Hanges, P., Javidan, M., Dorfman, P. and Gupta, V., 2004. Culture, leadership, and organizations. ThousandOaks, Calif.: Sage Publications

Uskul, A. K., Oyserman, D., & Schwarz, N. (2010). Cultural emphasis on honor, modesty, or self-enhancement: Implicationsfor the survey-response process. In J. A. Harkness, M. Braun, B. Edwards, T. P. Johnson, L. Lyberg, P. P. Mohler, B.-E.Pennell, & T. W. Smith (Eds.), Wiley series in survey methodology. Survey methods in multinational, multiregional, andmulticultural contexts (p. 191–201). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470609927.ch11

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