Hi, I'm Julie Tietz, and welcome to Conflict Resolution-- Putting the Pieces Together. Today, we're going to talk about individualism and collectivism. Individualism and collectivism are cultural worldviews where each culture takes on a specific position pertaining to the individual and the group.
So in individualism, it's a worldview that holds an individual's interest, beliefs, and goals. That it's more important for these to be intact than preserving harmony of the group in which that specific individual is a part of.
Whereas in collectivism, it's a worldview that holds that preserving harmony of a group is more important than an individual member's interests, beliefs, and goals. So the group is more important in collectivism, whereas in individualism the individual is viewed as most important.
Also, we need to be aware that these positions are not absolute. So they don't necessarily pertain to every single case of specific members of a culture identically. They are our broad assumptions and expectations that we are making here on what is right and proper in specific given situations.
So let's look at some examples of individualistic and collectivist cultures. So let's use the example of the economy. The United States is a very individualistic culture. And it runs its economy on a capitalist economy.
Whereas in China, it's a more collectivist country. And so they have an economic system revolving around communism. So they're a communist country. So capitalism is more in line with looking at an individual's interests, whereas communism is more in line in working at or looking at the group as a whole.
Another example could be around marriage. So in Australia, they're an individualistic country. And when we are going to marry somebody, it is surrounding their individual choice. So they can have the right to choose whomever they want to marry. And maybe that's based on love or other factors.
Whereas in India, which is a collectivist country, the decision around marriage really acts as a way in how we can elevate our family. So how our group will be perceived and how this marriage can benefit our family and our group. So in India, we see a lot more arranged marriages because it is a collectivist society.
So looking at these individualistic and collectivist worldviews and how it relates to conflict is really important to be aware of. So in a conflict resolution process we have different views on interests. So if we're dealing with a person from an individualistic society, they may take their own interest as being of the utmost importance, whereas a person from a collectivist society may not push their own individual interests in this process but rather try and think of the interests of keeping harmony with the group.
And they may also have different views on why they are participating. So an individualistic person may want to participate for their own individual interests, whereas a person from a collectivist society may want to participate because they view it as a benefit for their group.
And also they have varying views on the process as well. So an individualistic person may view the process as between two people that are in conflict, whereas a person from a collectivist society may want to bring more people into the conversation and the process because they are viewing this as preserving or as a group conflict and situation.
Let's take a look at our key points before we go on individualism and collectivism. In an individualistic society, the society views that the individual is most important. So their interests, beliefs, and goals are more important than preserving harmony of the group.
Whereas in collectivism, it views that the group is most important in preserving harmony. And so those individual interests and beliefs and goals take less precedence over what the group wants and how we are going to keep the group in harmony.
And because of these varying worldviews, it can have an impact on conflict and conflict resolution. So for the examples that we used earlier, an individualistic person in conflict resolution may want to express their specific views and interests, whereas a person from a collectivist society may not push their own individual interests as much as they would their specific groups interests.
Here are your key terms before we go. Feel free to pause and look at them a little bit closer.
Thank you so much for taking the time out to view this. I hope that you've learned something. And I can't wait to catch you again next time.