Individualistic culture

Individualistic cultures are characterized by individualism, which is the prioritization or emphasis of the individual over the entire group. In individualistic cultures, people are motivated by their own preference and viewpoints. Individualistic cultures focus on abstract thinking, privacy, self-dependence, uniqueness, and personal goals.[1] The term individualistic culture was first used in the 1980s by Dutch social psychologist Geert Hofstede to describe countries and cultures that are not collectivist; Hofstede created the term individualistic culture when he created a measurement for the five dimensions of cultural values.[2]

People in individualistic cultures see each other as loosely connected and have a diverse population of different races, ethnicities, languages, and cultures. Individuals gain the most happiness from three key factors: personal satisfaction, internal happiness, and family satisfaction.[3] People living in individualistic cultures use direct communication, low-power distance communication, self-expression of emotions, and a variety of conflict resolution strategies.

There has been a global increase in individualism in the recent years and individualistic culture is on the rise in many countries around the world due to wealth and urbanization.[4][5] Highly individualistic countries are often Western countries, like Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States.[6][7]

  1. ^ Rhee, Eun; Uleman, James S.; Lee, Hoon K.; Roman, Robert J. (1995). "Spontaneous self-descriptions and ethnic identities in individualistic and collectivistic cultures". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 69 (1): 142–152. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.69.1.142. ISSN 1939-1315. PMID 7643297.
  2. ^ Yoo, Boonghee; Donthu, Naveen; Lenartowicz, Tomasz (2011). "Measuring Hofstede's Five Dimensions of Cultural Values at the Individual Level: Development and Validation of CVSCALE". Journal of International Consumer Marketing: 193–210. doi:10.1080/08961530.2011.578059 (inactive 1 November 2024).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)
  3. ^ Krys, Kuba; Park, Joonha; Kocimska-Zych, Agata; Kosiarczyk, Aleksandra; Selim, Heyla A.; Wojtczuk-Turek, Agnieszka; Haas, Brian W.; Uchida, Yukiko; Torres, Claudio; Capaldi, Colin A.; Bond, Michael Harris (2021-06-01). "Personal Life Satisfaction as a Measure of Societal Happiness is an Individualistic Presumption: Evidence from Fifty Countries". Journal of Happiness Studies. 22 (5): 2197–2214. doi:10.1007/s10902-020-00311-y. hdl:11584/303821. ISSN 1573-7780. S2CID 224882464.
  4. ^ Huynh, Alex C.; Grossmann, Igor (September 2021). "Rising Ethnic Diversity in the United States Accompanies Shifts Toward an Individualistic Culture". Social Psychological and Personality Science. 12 (7): 1316–1325. doi:10.1177/1948550620967230. ISSN 1948-5506. S2CID 228948141.
  5. ^ Santos, Henri C.; Varnum, Michael E. W.; Grossmann, Igor (September 2017). "Global Increases in Individualism". Psychological Science. 28 (9): 1228–1239. doi:10.1177/0956797617700622. ISSN 0956-7976. PMID 28703638. S2CID 206588771.
  6. ^ Schreier, Sina-Simone; Heinrichs, Nina; Alden, Lynn; Rapee, Ronald M.; Hofmann, Stefan G.; Chen, Junwen; Oh, Kyung Ja; Bögels, Susan (2010). "Social anxiety and social norms in individualistic and collectivistic countries". Depression and Anxiety. 27 (12): 1128–1134. doi:10.1002/da.20746. ISSN 1520-6394. PMC 3058376. PMID 21049538.
  7. ^ Rothwell, J. Dan (2016). In the company of others : an introduction to communication. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 65–84. ISBN 978-0-19-045742-6. OCLC 914136942.