PSYSCHOLOGY PSY101
Introduction to Cultural Psychology
PSY101
A statement of the topic
Hofstede’s cultural dimension theory is a concept that shows the cultures present across countries and how these cultures affect the business setting. Western culture is well known for individualism, whereby society members view themselves as independent, autonomous, and live in distinct units. Collectivist culture, on the other hand, fosters community relationships and a cohesive type of life. It emphasizes community values such as honesty, generosity, integrity, and responsibility. Individual actions are dictated by the impact on the community and not on an individual.
In psychology, self-concept is defined as a collection of beliefs about oneself. It encompasses a self-assessment of strengths and weaknesses. The difference in self-perception between individualistic and collective cultures have attracted scholarly attention in recent years (Bhawuk, 2017). Individualistic cultures have formed an independent cultural theory whereby individuals focus on their own goals, dreams, and self-constructs. O the other hand, Collective cultures encourage interdependence in ideas, growth, relationships, and community development. Self-perception is influenced by three levels of selves; private self, public self, and collective self. All three levels are influenced by the individualistic versus collectivist cultural context.
Peer-Reviewed Articles and how they are relevant to the topic
1. Kolstad, A., & Horpestad, S. (2009). Self-construal in Chile and Norway: Implications for cultural differences in individualism and collectivism. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 40(2), 275-281.
Based on a comparative study of Chile, which is collectivist, and Norway that is characterized, the article is individualistic. The study measures the level of independence and dependence between the two cultures. The study finds out that Chile has a higher score on both independent and interdependent self-perception (Kolstad & Horpestad, 2009). The study is relevant to the topic because it shows how people in the two contradicting cultures perceive themselves.
2. Aliyev, F., & Wagner, R. (2018). Cultural influence on luxury value perceptions: Collectivist vs. individualist luxury perceptions. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 30(3), 158-172.
This study examines the luxury perceptions among individualistic and collectivist individuals. The research revealed that collectivist individuals have a stronger perception of high quality and conspicuous product elements as controlled by price value (Aliyev & Wagner, 2018). Individualist people, on their part, love purchasing things with luxury intentions. The article is relevant to the topic because it compares the purchase intentions between the two cultures hence ascertaining how people from different cultures perceive purchases.
3. Rhee, M., Alexandra, V., & Powell, K. S. (2020). Individualism-collectivism cultural differences in performance feedback theory. Cross-Cultural & Strategic Management
The article introduces the performance feedback theory, which has been used to analyze different business cultures around the world. The theory presumes that individual decisions are influenced by past experiences and background (Rhee et al., 2020). In this article, the authors suggest that the theory on its own is not clear on how individualism and collectivism cultures influence self-perception. According to this article, there should be efforts from other frameworks and theories to analyze the two cultures' internal processes instead of focusing on outcomes only. The article challenges the researcher to focus on details about individualism and collectivism cultures instead of focusing on self-perception outcomes.
4. Zheng, L. (2017). Does online perceived risk depend on culture? Individualistic versus collectivistic culture. Journal of Decision Systems, 26(3), 256-274.
The article focuses on how individualists and collectivists respond to risks. The study involved comparing an individualistic and collective country in terms of privacy concerns and perceived risk. The article reveals that individualistic and collectivist cultures display different privacy concerns, views on security protection, and perceived risk (Zheng, 2017). The article is relevant to the topic because it clearly demonstrates how individualism and collectivism shape perception.
5. James, J. (2019). Individualism and Collectivism: Examining Student Mathematical Identity in Hierarchal Grouping Arrangements. Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia.
The article reveals that students' low performance in mathematics in New Zealand is influenced by cultural beliefs that shape students' perception. The students also show that learners can improve their learning and performance by changing their self-perception (James, 2019). The study groups learners’ perception of their abilities as either inclusive or exclusive. The study further notes that these perception shapes their identity as mathematicians. The article is relevant to the topic because it shows the relationship between culture and self-perception.
Aims of the Study
The aim of this study is to ascertain how individualistic and collectivist cultures influence self-perception. The researcher aims at determining the relationship between the individual expressions of self-concept and individualism versus collectivism cultures. The study also aims at distinguishing individuals who have grown up in individualistic cultures from those who have been nurtured in collectivist cultures. The study sheds light on the theoretical framework related to individualism and collectivist cultures and how the theories shape the ideology of self-perception.
Hypothesis
The study is based on the hypothesis that collectivist cultures encourage an interdependent self-perception while individuals in individualistic cultures tend to display an interdependent self-perception. Individualism encourages people to identify themselves as individuals, their abilities, strengths, weaknesses, experiences, and many others (Kasler et al., 2020). Collectivist cultures, on the other hand, encourage group membership, and people tend to identify themselves in groups. For example, in individualistic cultures, one may identify themselves with their names, while in collectivist cultures, a person may identify based on group factors such as the ethnic background. That is, I am Gabriel vs. I am Italian cultures.
References
Kolstad, A., & Horpestad, S. (2009). Self-construal in Chile and Norway: Implications for cultural differences in individualism and collectivism. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 40(2), 275-281.
Aliyev, F., & Wagner, R. (2018). Cultural influence on luxury value perceptions: Collectivist vs. individualist luxury perceptions. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 30(3), 158-172.
Rhee, M., Alexandra, V., & Powell, K. S. (2020). Individualism-collectivism cultural differences in performance feedback theory. Cross-Cultural & Strategic Management.
Zheng, L. (2017). Does online perceived risk depend on culture? Individualistic versus collectivistic culture. Journal of Decision Systems, 26(3), 256-274.
James, J. (2019). Individualism and Collectivism: Examining Student Mathematical Identity in Hierarchal Grouping Arrangements. Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia.
Kasler, J., Zysberg, L., & Gal, R. (2020). Culture, collectivism-individualism, and college student plagiarism. Ethics & Behavior, 1-10.
Bhawuk, D. P. (2017). Individualism and collectivism. The International Encyclopedia of Intercultural Communication, 1-9.