Sample response

A cultural dimension is a pattern of values and behaviours in a culture.  The concept of cultural dimensions was developed by Hofstede as a way of discussing and comparing cultures.  One cultural dimension is individualism-collectivism or I-C.

An individualistic culture focuses on the uniqueness, achievement and personal choice of the individual. In a collectivistic culture, the relationship with the group is more important than the personal goals of the individual.  Collectivistic cultures value social harmony and stress interdependence.  Individualistic cultures also value privacy and expressing one’s own opinion.

A study that looked at the nature of individualistic vs collectivistic societies was done by Berry.  He wanted to test the level of conformity in the two types of cultures.  To do the experiment, he carried out a version of the Asch experiment with Temne farmers - a collectivistic culture - and Inuit hunters – an individualistic culture. In the control condition, the participants were given an image of a line and asked to match it for length with one of five others lines. In this condition, there were no significant errors made.  In the experimental condition, they were told, “Other Temne seem to think that it is line C, what do you think?”  In this case, the researcher saw a significant difference; Temne were much more likely to conform to the incorrect answer than the Inuits – in other words, the collectivistic culture had a higher rate of conformity than the individualistic culture.  This could be due to the desire for social harmony and the importance of interdependence in the farming culture.

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