Individualism versus Collectivism Essay Example for Free

Individualism versus Collectivism EssayThe concepts of individualism and collectivism apply to the description of societies and individuals within the society. Cultures vary in their levels of individualism/ collectivism magical spell individuals within these specific cultures vary on the same dimension. Idiocentric and allocentric are constructs that are very grave in differentiating consistent variations of an individuals attitudes, beliefs, self-definition, normative behavior and self-definition. Individualism is termed as the persons level of idiocentric while collectivism is the persons level of allocentric (Udehn, 2001).Idiocentric individuals emphasize much on their own goals and needs over those of the group to which they belong. They are much independent and self-reliant. On the different hand, allocentric individuals tend to be more cooperative, interdependent and they also have a stronger desire to partner with others. In addition allocentric and idiocentric indi viduals differ in their source of intimacy and companionship to remunerate their several needs and to strengthen their self-esteem. For instance, idiocentric obtains their social support from peers and best friends while allocentrics obtain their social support from their parents.Individuals with allocentric tendencies have fewer daily but more in-depth discussions than individuals with idiocentric tendencies. People who express more allocentric or idiocentric tendencies vary in various ways. For instance, the people who tend to be more allocentric have good reliability and inter-correlation therefrom showing convergent validity. They are characterized with three main aspects which include individual to group goals, in-group as extension of the self and in-group identity. Individuals who are more idiocentric mainly recitation equity and need in distributing rewards.Individuals who are more allocentric mainly emphasize on the values of cooperation, fairness and honesty while indiv iduals who are more idiocentric prescribe much emphasis on values of comfortable life, competition, pleasure and social recognition. Persons who are allocentric receive much and better quality social support while those who are more idiocentric are usually higher in movement motivation, alienation and greater loneliness. The difference between collective and individualist cultures is mainly establish on self.In collectivist cultures, the self is more linked to in-group memberships while in individualist cultures self-concept is obtained from independently groups which are based on the varying characteristics and contributions of the individual. In collectivists cultures, there is high adherence to the goals of the in-group and to in-group values and also the maintaining of in-group harmony (Lee Kelly 1996). In individualistic societies, the aims and the goals of a particular individual are more important and slight significance is attached to in-group harmony.Nevertheless, indiv idualism is mainly based on Western cultures while collectivism is related with Eastern cultures. Collectivistic cultures have lower order of suicide, psychopathology and relatively higher marital satisfaction than individualistic cultures. I consider myself to be idiocentric. This is because I always concentrate on my own goals and achievement over those of the other people and I carry out my tasks independently. I normally display a different tendency towards the allocentric.For instance, in making bribe of luxury brands, I purchase goods for my own sake pleasures ad interests while the allocentric purchase the luxury brands only with an aim of seeking social recognition (McCarthy, 2005). As a result of these differences, conflict and misunderstanding emerges. This is because as a personally motivated consumer, I will purchase the luxury brands for self-interests while on the other hand an allocentric individual who is socially motivated will make the purchase of luxury brands w ith an aim of seeking social recognition.