Individualism and Collectivism
A contrast between cultures that prize autonomy and personal achievement and cultures that prize harmony, interdependence and conformity.
What it is
The difference shows up in language, self-description, memory, stress responses and reward circuitry, always as population averages. On this site it is read alongside Rice Theory of Culture, Tight and Loose Cultures and Cultures of Honor.
In effect
Asked to draw a sociogram, Americans put themselves in the biggest, central circle; East Asians draw themselves no bigger than anyone else.
What it does not say
It is not the same thing as Rice Theory of Culture, which sits close to it on this site but describes a different part of how people decide. It also does not say that the finding reaches every product, buyer or setting; where this page goes beyond the cited research, the step is an inference and is labelled as one.
Sources
- Quoted in the book on how friendship ideals and speech styles differ across cultures.