Individualism Vs. Collectivism
INDIVIDUALISM
Individualism is self-reliant that you are expected to take care of yourself and your immediate family but you have no obligation towards larger community. Individualism is the degree to which people have an independent definition of self, Triandis (1995), Gelfand and Realo (1999). The literature on cultural values has discussed the sizable cross-cultural differences between personal and interpersonal social values, such as individualism/collectivism, Hofstede, (1980); Triandis, (1995), and independence/interdependence, Markus & Kitayama (1991). When people work towards on individualism way their task identity will be high, as they able to identify their work flow and complete delegated tasks, it is because they would involve directly from beginning to end.
On top of that, either horizontal or vertical individualism the way of work practiced would be same. Based on Big 5 personality model, conscientiousness and openness to experience closely suits individualism characters person. It is due to the trait’s characteristics which display a preference for being unique, pursuing personal goals and independent. Let say, for conscientiousness the elements that reflect the variable are like high level of thoughtfulness, organized and mindful of details and enjoy by having a set schedule. It leads to focus on vertical individualism.
If a person focusses on vertical orientation, therefore they will work hard in achieving their vision as to acquire the status or power in an organization setting. However, it would be differ if a person focus on horizontal orientation which he/she emphasize on equality even they prefer work individually (refer pic. 1). In many cases, scholars have been informed that a company assigns the liberty to voice opinion to its employees, allow them to work independently and rewards them for their endeavor.
Collectivism
Collectivism refers to family integrity, collaborations and individualism is emotional detachment. Allocentrism means interdependence and sociability while idiocentrism best describes self-reliance. (Triandism McCuskar and Hui, 1990). Collectivist pay considerable attention to certain in-groups, the family, the work group or the nation and it will behave differently towards members on such groups. Whereas, in collectivist, they tend to solve the conflict in favor of in-group rather than individual goals. Collectivist not only have higher expectations from their in-groups but also, they are more concerned about making their in-group members happy. Thus, highly contextual and relational collectivists might be more likely to tie their own perceived happiness to the happiness of their in-groups.
Culture of collectivist, behavior it depends on in-group norms that are important determinants of social behavior. The attributes of collectivist are hierarchy and harmony. Interdependence within the in-group is emphasized in collectivist cultures. Thus, collectivist tend to think of groups as the basic unit. For them, to keep good harmonious relationship inside the group is a priority and avoiding loss of face is important.
The identity of individual in group is depends on the strong and cohesive in-groups to which they belong. In collectivist culture, cooperation is high within on-groups but is unlikely when the person belongs to an out-group. As a comparison, people in individualist culture are good at forming new in-groups and getting along with those from out-groups.
In a nutshell, everyone has different personality and background so we try the best level to respect and appreciate people around us. Thank you.
