The Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research - Houston
page 8
To submit an articles of Intercultural Interest, please contact Andrea Brooks.
There is an old joke Joyce learned as a child at her Grandfather's dinner table that goes like this:
How do you turn your best friend into an enemy? It’s simple. Just lend him money.
For mainstream Americans friendship does not include money lending. Many Americans would just rather give their friends or relatives money instead of worrying about obligating their friends for repayment. We value the giving of gifts with ‘no strings attached.’
What are these strings that bind people together, and that Americans prefer to avoid? These are the very same chords of mutual dependency and obligation that are honored by many other cultures. By examining these very different attitudes towards interpersonal attachments we can further our understanding of the divergent worldviews of individualists and collectivists.
The cultural differences between these two worldviews is considered so important that Harry Triandis, a social psychologist at the University of Illinois, has written an excellent book titled Individualism & Collectivism1. We will draw on this text and our own experiences in this article.
For individualists the primary unit of society is the person himself. Therefore, individualists primarily focus on their own preferences, needs, and rights. They often give priority to personal rather than group goals. Independence and standing on one's own two feet is highly valued. This attitude is enshrined in our constitution, which guarantees the individual citizen the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
are closely linked people who view themselves primarily as parts of a whole, be it a family, a network of co-workers, a tribe, or a nation. The primary focus is on the norms, duties and responsibilities imposed by the collective group. The Hindus and Buddhists share the word ‘Dharma’ as a cornerstone of their worldview. This life's aim "abounds in directives to men and women for performing their social roles and responsibilities."2 Collectivist societies are bound together through interaction and inter-dependency. For example, among Samoans in Hawaii, it is common for all relatives to have access to an individual's bankbook3.
About 70 percent of the world is collectivist where United States is the uncontested winner when it comes to individualism4. According to Hofstead, the United States, Australia, Great Britain, Canada, The Netherlands and New Zealand represent highly individualistic countries. Highly collectivist countries are Pakistan, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Taiwan and Thailand5. Japan and China are also known for their highly collectivist nature. In general, Western countries tend to be more individualist when compared with the rest of the world.
Please note there is a gender divide at play here as well. Even in individualist countries much has been written about the role of women in not following the individualist mold. Also, note that non-Western countries also produce individualists. (Some of whom immigrate here!) All of us are somewhat individualist and collectivist. What separates an individualist from a collectivist is the amount of mix of these two traits.
Listed below are seven differences that separate an individualist from a collectivist:
Example - In workshops we have done an exercise called Surprise Introduction.6 As trainers we ask the participants at the workshop's beginning to introduce themselves. No instructions are given on how to do this. Typically the audience members give their name, profession, and personal interests, such as why their interest includes cross-cultural endeavors. This is an individualist model of introduction.
After the audience has finished the facilitators then introduce themselves using collectivist terms. They will mention their families, their place of birth, and just about everything but their profession and place of work. It does not take the participants long to feel frustrated. They wait for the facilitators' introduction to ‘get to the point.’ But to a collectivist this introduction is exactly to the point.
Example - During a human resources conference, Syed attended a session about workplace stress reduction. A South American woman who worked for a global engineering company also attended that session. Afterward, this woman commented to him, "I don't get stressed at work. It is a family crisis that stresses me the most. I need to learn how to apply these stress reduction ideas in the context of my culture."
Examples - During a study about happiness, a researcher found that almost 10% of his Chinese sample said that they had never thought about whether or not they were "happy"7. During another study an American researcher asked a woman in India, "Are you happy?" The woman thought for a second and said, "I don't know, ask my husband."8 Happiness appears to be a big deal for individualists. For collectivists, it isn't clear if posing this question is even appropriate. A question more often asked by collectivists is "How is your family?"
Examples - In traditional Greece, if a person visits someone
unannounced and the host is not in the mood to receive him, the host simply
shouts through the door, "I am not here".9 Growing up in
Pakistan, Syed's father sometimes told him to tell the visitor on the door that
the father was not in. In these cultures this is an acceptable behavior.
Example - Most of the international students in the U.S. who come from collectivist countries often face an interesting problem. Upon arrival, collectivists international students often find mainstream U.S. American students warm and friendly. The international student, therefore, starts thinking that these friendly overtures indicate the beginning of a longer-term relationship. However, during the subsequent encounters, internationals student get really disappointed when the perceived relationship does not materialize.
Examples - Recently a mainstream U.S. lawyer recounted to Syed his experience of a Pakistani-American who needed eight thousand dollars in few hours as part of a court settlement. The Pakistani-American returned to the lawyer in four hours with the money and commented, "I just stopped by at few businesses of my friends to raise this cash".
Even more enlightening is Syed's experience of money-pooling in Saudi Arabia. Here he lived with other Pakistanis and enjoyed a financial arrangement known as ‘committee’. Every month, after getting paid, about 10 Pakistanis put 500 Saudi Riyals in a pot (about US$225 at that time). Then they asked each other, who needs the money this month? Whoever was interested, picked up the 5000 Saudi Riyals. No system of any written paper work and no calculation of any kind of interest was required.
Examples - At the international airport in Karachi Pakistan, when you are standing in a long line to get your passport stamped, you may see some passengers coming from behind and going straight to the counter to get preferential treatment. This is often the result of the passenger being part of immigration officer's in-group or of their knowing someone who is part of that in-group. This is an acceptable behavior. Of course preferential treatment happens in individualist cultures as well, but it may not be that blatant.
In Houston, Joyce paid several visits to a Lebanese restaurant. She commented that the Arab lady at the counter never smiled. (In collectivist cultures, smiles may only be reserved for the in-group) However, in her most recent visit to that restaurant this woman smiled and greeted her warmly. It appears she started to recognize Joyce as a regular customer, and, therefore, worthy of such greeting.
There are desirable and undesirable traits in individualist and collectivist behaviors. However, an extreme form of either of the two cultural orientations hinders cross-cultural interaction. Our best course will be to have a balance of both traits so we may work towards becoming international citizens. In the mean time, our challenge will be to work hard to recognize these cultural differences and find ways to cope with them.
1 Triandis, Harry. Individualism & Collectivism.
Westview Press, CO: Boulder, 1995.
2 Samovar, Larry & Richard Porter, Communication Between
Cultures. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1991, 93.
3 Triandis, 74.
4 Triandis, 13.
5 Triandis, 103-104.
6 Kohls, Robert L., & John M. Knight. Developing Intercultural
Awareness. Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press, 1994.
7 Triandis, 108-109.
8 Triandis, 109.
9 Triandis, 78.
By Syed and Joyce Zafar
"Syed Zafar, president of Cultural Diversity Group, pursues his passion of
promoting intercultural understanding through keynotes, workshops and a
newsletter. Syed, born and raised in Pakistan, lived in Saudia Arabia before
coming to the US. He has an MBA from the University of St. Thomas and a decade
of corporate work."
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