Psychology

Human behavior is complex and the personality of different individuals differs in many aspects even if they were subjected to the same environmental conditions.  This is because the personality of the individual is as a result effect of the individuals inner thought process, the environment and the biological factors within the individual. Humanity has very many diversifications in cultural practices which need to be researched in depth by the different self motivated scholars.
 
Individualism and collectivism are good research fields in the study of human behavior and personality as well as cultural background of different communities.  Individualism deals with the study of societies or groups of people who are self centered and value their individual needs rather than group activities. They have loose ties between individuals but strong intrapersonal relationships as opposed to collectivism.  Collectivism involves the study of communities whose ties are more profound and elaborated than the personal desires or individual needs.

Psychologists are now investing a lot of time in the study of these two characteristic features of personality.  According to researchers, there are a variety of means that can be used while measuring individualism or collectivism.   The culture syndrome is a widely used method of measuring the two values.  The culture syndrome involves the study of shared norms, attitudes, roles, values and believes of certain groups of people (Bird, 1999).   The study also seeks information from people who share common language or people of the same historical backgrounds, either geographically or in terms of upbringing. In the case where individualism is practiced, there is precedence of individual needs, values and preferences as opposed to group participation of organizational needs.  On the other hand, individuals need within the collectivistic cultural practice will be the last to be attended to after attending to the groups needs.

It is important to note that there are some notable variations within each kind of culture because it cannot be unanimously the same.  Even though the collectivistic cultural practices are designed to fit in a group or a society, there exist some variations on the different methods in which the group activities are organized and also how the different people attend to the groups or societal functions (Zimbardo, Johnson, McCann, 2008).  There is still some variation on the individualistic cultural practices since every individual has some degree of self that is controlled by others and may not be wholly individualistic. Thus, the level of individualism defers from one person to another within the same community.  

There various ways in which individualism is expressed. It can either be vertical or horizontal. In horizontal individualism, individuals try pursuing equality while in the vertical individualism, the culture practice is in hierarchical order. The pattern of practicing either individualism could further be structured as horizontal individualism which seeks to have individuals that are self reliant and unique in some ways. However, these individuals do not like to be distinguished from others by high or low status. The second is the vertical individualistic practice which seeks to have individuals that are competitive in terms of status and distinction. The third is the horizontal collectivists whose members seeks to progress as a group with common objective in their associations (Triandis, 1995).  Finally, the vertical collectivism entails the sacrifice of personal goals for the sake of the organizations although the group members occupy different status and roles within the group. Some nations in which the collectivist cultural is practiced include Japan, Korea, and China, where societies uphold group work as well as family participation in most of the events.  Individualist cultures are practiced in the Western Europe and the United States of America.

From different studies, cultural diversity has been found to interfere with the cultural background of many individuals. For instance, a study was carried in India to investigate the correlation between collectivism and individualism among students at different levels. It was realized that masters students were more inclined to individualism rather than on collectivism.  On further analysis, this was found to be so due to the influence of the western culture (Lars, 2001).  At lower levels like the primary schools, students were more included to collectivism due to their retention of the original culture of the nation.

In the United States of America and other individualist cultures, their individualism is so deeply set that even when taking meals, they only encourage self service.  The people in this kind of relationships are most likely to be victims of loneliness and solitude.  The culture in the individualist communities involves self descriptions like the pronounced use of I, mine and me for identification of the singular personalities of the individuals. There is fervent promotion of personal initiatives, goals as well as personal achievements.

In this category of people, individuals are encouraged to stick out, have good self expression mechanisms and work towards their own uniqueness.  In such nations and governance, the policies of the country tend to promote individual rights with well designed constitutional agreements on the freedom of speech or expression and the encouragement of independence for different personalities.  In the same case, members do not need to fit in a group or show any sign of conformity to a certain group or organization (George, Madonna, 2003). The individualist cultures allow for self sufficiency and sustenance. Thus, there is no embarrassment for being in a group or for being out of the group.

On the other hand, the collectivists community cultures are characterized by the definition of identification in the form of we, us, ours as well as the encouragement of one to belong and associate with a certain group.  Such communities are governed by strict rules that encourage order, stability and obedience with the inclusive mandate of conformity to certain groupings or associations.  The individuals opinions are not expressed but propelled as a team. Those who do not belong to certain groups may feel out of place or they may be denied some of their rights since majority of the privileges are offered at group level rather than at the individual level.  People must work communally and no individuals are expected to stick out as progressive individuals who are not in any group (Bird, 1999). Due to communal participation, there are rare chances of loneliness or solitude.

For persons to be classified as of good personality in collectivistic culture, they are expected to be honesty, best team players, generous, trustworthy as well as sensitive.  In contrast, the same personalities may be perceived differently from the point of view of individualistic cultural practices.  A good personality from the individualistic point of view is the one who is assertive, competitive, determined to achieve personal goals or even self motivated.

Individualism can be defined as political, moral or philosophical sociology that dictates emphasis on the individuals own security and satisfaction of needs thus promoting self reliance. When individualism is founded on political systems, it inculcates the culture of governance that only encourages protection and the provision of security based on individual needs, where the governance in this case has strong constitutional protection of individuals.  Individuals can therefore exercise freedom and independence at different levels without being obliged to be in any group or association (Lars, 2001). This system encourages the protection of the rights of the minority who if not protected can be exploited by the majority.  With individualistic governance, most citizens tend to object on democratic rule.

In contrast, the collectivism system in economics argues that business property is owned by all and should only be used for the benefit or good of all the group members rather than just an individual.  In nations where collectivism has taken roots, it is not easy to invest in private sector which is normally owned by individuals rather than groups. Communist communities support the collectivistic cultural activities while the capitalistic communities will support the development of individualistic cultural practices (George, Madonna, 2003).

In conclusion, the personality of individuals can greatly be influenced by the society due to the sharing of common norms, teachings, language or cultural practices that individuals may be introduced to during their up bringing.  Also, many communities are bound to stick balance on development strategies if they are to exercise policies as in the individualistic cultural practices or to be inclined towards the collectivistic cultural practices.  Most developed countries encourage individualistic behavior for faster development in management strategies and business.  This is because the individualistic cultures encourage competition which is necessary for any business to thrive.  The collective characteristics of groups are also good in the community mobilization, development of good team participants and effective group mobilizes.  This aspects can assist in the solution of wide spread civil strives and racial discrimination that are mostly motivated by competition.