Individualism And Western Mentality

Is the level of interdependence a society maintains among its people (Hofstede). This is about a society in which everyone looks out for him or herself while collectivism the opposite of individualism is a society that embraces people being integrated into a strong cohesive in-groups including extended families. Germany is an individualistic society with a high score of 67 on the cultural scale. People expresses themselves based on personal achievements and individual rights. Likewise, the United State is also considered to be an individualistic scoring a high 91 on the culture scale. This is evident in the society by the saying “American dream” which encourages individuals to work hard and be whatever they chose to be in life. Countries like

On the contrary, collectivist societies value conformity, and are more concerned with the success of the group as a whole (Goncalo & Staw, 2006). One of the key differences between the two is the structure of the family unit and the significance placed on maintaining close family ties. Collectivist societies follow a hierarchical system with the patriarchal figure given ultimate power and respect. The importance of family is not valued as highly in individualist societies. For example, while it would be typical for a family living under one roof to consist of many generations and extended relations in China, it would seem highly unusual if the same was to occur in a country such as the United States of America (USA) (Jyh-Shen Chiou, 2001). This is due to the heavy emphasis placed on collectivism in China. Western countries, including the USA, are traditionally viewed as individualist societies (Cai, Wilson, & Drake, 2000). As there is no clear distinction between the family unit and the individual in collectivist cultures, the reputation of the family name is closely tied to the behaviour of every person. Embarrassing one’s self would be to bring shame to the

Relationships between the individual and society vary between cultures, religions and ethnicities. Nevertheless, throughout history, how the individual is seen in society varies accordingly. In Medieval Europe, China and Islamic countries, religious beliefs and different philosophies greatly contributed and effected how individuals in a community acted and interacted with their society and other countries. Different lifestyles and common norms contributed to the differences in relationships because how the community interacted with each other influenced the way society acted in general. In some societies individualism was stressed where as in others the importance of community was emphasized. As a result, these ideas shaped the way society

Culture is defined by a construction of one's world-view, and it is transmitted by individuals and collectives through socialization and enculturation (Pederson & Ivey, 13). It contains values, beliefs, language, and perception. In studying cultural differences among members of distinct national, ethnic groups researcher have examined the concept of collectivism and individualism. People form individualistic cultures tend to view themselves as unique entities and independent form one another (Coon & Kemmelmeier, 348)

No emotion. No love. No mothers, fathers or families. No marriage and no pregnancies. No individuality. It’s all non-existent. Aldous Huxley’s brave new world written in 1932 introduces us to a vision of a utopian community that is fashioned as one of mindless drug use, sleep hypnoses, conditioning, castes in society and a community were fidelity is shunned and social stability is key. All of these combine to discourage any possible individuality. Bokanovskys process also deliberately deprives human beings of their appearance, intelligence, job and level in society. They become nothing but mindless faceless colour coated sheep. One of the main themes in the novel is individuality and is exposed through the bold individualism of the protagonist

In the 20th century, human beings have been able to enjoy technological advances as well as the disadvantages of technology that seemed unimaginable in previous centuries. Aldous Huxley’s novel, Brave New World, creates a utopian society that achieves happiness at the expense of humanity by contrasting the use of technology. This is a representation of a society trapped inside a world that is consumed and run by technology rather than individual thinking and feeling. The morals expressed throughout The World State society are not those of our society today, instead, The World State itself focuses around the idea of industry, economy, and technologic growth and improvement, this makes the inhabitants more concerned with what is on the outside instead of the inside. The contrasting world of Huxley makes the reader agree with the viewpoint that technology has created a world of individualism and consumption rather than a world that focuses on the sense of fulfillment. While technology can bring growth, it is also a form of destruction that strips away any form of happiness with psychotropic drugs, genetic engineering, and consumption that neglects a true sense of humanity.

In the United States, we see a lot of individuals change their focus of culture. In the article found from a website called, “How American Individualism is Evolving,” written by Daniel Yankelovich, he states, “I’ve long suspected the 1960s’ conception of ‘satisfy-my-needs' individualism is bad for society, bad for personal relationships, bad for children, and bad for the people who hold it.” Before, culture used to be oriented around family, which was usually around mom, dad, siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles. People do not look at culture the same and it has been reduced and the traditions have changed.

Individualism: ones individuality, what makes us different from everyone else, allows us to stand out in society, makes us unique. In Aldous Huxley’s novel A Brave New World, the word individualism is unknown to the civilians living in this dystopian lifestyle created by Huxley. “A squat grey building of only thirty-four storeys. Over the main entrance the words, Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre, and, in a shield, the world states motto, Community, Identity, Stability” (Huxley 1) From the way the world state is producing humans, to the similarities between inanimate objects and civilians of the world state and the controlling of members of the world state with the use of soma, we are able to see the world state has no individuality and for this reason everyone is the same making everyone almost

In modern society there is much value placed on the concept of individual freedom. However, too much freedom can provide an individual with the power to interfere with the happiness of others, thus a balance between freedom and state regulated order is required. The concept of an individual struggling against an order focused society is a common topic in texts. In Aldous Huxley’s 1933 novel Brave New World, this concept is explored by John, an outsider in a dystopian world society that places high value on stability rather than individualism. In Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 film A Clockwork Orange, which is based Anthony Burgess’s 1962 novel of the same name, a similar dystopian society is explored by the aggressively individualistic Alex.

“COMMUNITY, IDENTITY, STABILITY” is the motto the citizens of the World State adhere to. The motto stresses the need for everyone to work together, and discourages individualism. Their society believes that when an “individual feels, the community reels”, meaning when an individual begins to feel real emotion, society behaves in a disorderly manner. When one longs to achieve happiness and meaningfulness, they may abandon everything they know in the pursuit of discovering their passion. In this pursuit one may encounter a cultural conflict that is hazardous to themselves and society, thus creating disorder in the world in which they call their home.

Looking at the chart the first dimension of culture plotted is individualism-collectivism. This dimension addresses how people define themselves and their relationships with others. Cultures that fall on the individualism side of the continuum share four characteristics. First, such cultures consider the individual to be the most important entity in any social setting. Second, individualistic cultures stress independence rather than dependence. Third, individualistic cultures reward individual achievement. The last characteristic is; individualistic cultures value each individual’s uniqueness.

Many people across the world have their own definition and beliefs of the word individualism. There is nothing selfish to be able to express ones personality and internal emotions. Being an individual alone could value a person’s overall true character. The claim presented would be opposed by many because people like to feel independent and self-reliant. Individualism in today’s society lets people express themselves, and helps create something small into something big. For a long time now individualism has existed since the founding of our country. History was created by those who showed independence and proved that an individual can do it all.

| The fundamental issue addressed by this dimension is the degree of interdependence a society maintains among its members. It has to do with whether people´s self-image is defined in terms of “I” or “We”. In Individualist societies people are supposed to look after themselves and their direct family only. In Collectivist societies people belong to ‘in

When a business decides to venture internationally into different countries with its products, services, and operations, it is very important that the company gains an understanding of how the culture of the different societies affects the values found in those societies. Geert Hofstede conducted one of the most famous and most used studies on how culture relates to values. Hofstede study enabled him to compare dimensions of culture across 40 countries. He originally isolated four dimensions of what he claimed summarized different cultures — power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism versus collectivism, and masculinity versus femininity (Hill, 2013, p.110). To cover aspects of values not discussed in the original paradigm Hofstede has since added two more dimensions — Confucianism or long-term orientation and indulgence versus self-restraint (Hofstede, n.d.). Because of the way Hofstede’s cultural dimensions are given an index score from 0-100, it is easy for a company to get a general comparison between the cultures they are expanding into and the culture they are already in.

This essay will discuss the influence of cultural dimensions on behavior. A cultural dimension is defined as a perspective of a culture based on its values and cultural norms. In particular, Hofstede’s cultural dimension of individualism vs. collectivism will be discussed. Individualism vs collectivism is defined as the preference of a person only being concerned about oneself and looking after oneself, compared to a person who wants to remain in a closely knitted network. These are some terms with definitions which will be used in this essay: the Asch paradigm, which refers to the studies conducted by Solomon Asch, in which he showed his participants different lines and asked them to verbally judge and respond as to what the length of the