Collectivism vs. Individualism

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University psychologist Harry Triandis depicts substantial information that helps depict the two major differences between the Collectivist and Indivualistic cultures. Triandis claims that there are three important distinctions between the two, which are the way people perceive oneself, personal goals, and duty. Research has shown that more than two-thirds of the world’s individuals are born into collectivist cultures, while just under one-third of the world’s population lives in the individualistic culture. Most countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East represent the collectivistic perspective based upon the way individuals interact with each other. An example would be how the Japanese value collective needs and goals over individual needs or goals. The Japanese culture assumes that over time every individual’s decision affects nearly all people in a specific group. Triandis believes that the Japanese culture falls into an "us-them" category, where they easily identify an outsider’s background and group connections before their attitudes and beliefs. While countries like Australia, Germany, and Switzerland mostly portray the individualistic approach. Toomey discovers these results based upon her theories of conflict management in other cultures, from a collectivistic and individualistic approach. Here in America we value the individualistic approach, where we follow rules by "freewheeling" our self concern with individual rights, not group responsibilities.