Individualism and Collectivism are very important cultural dimensions that have been frequently researched in sociology and cultural anthropology. We often talk about this cultural dynamic in our cross-cultural seminars. I tend to focus on it very briefly when training and perhaps not as much as I should. However, it is an extremely important dividing line among cultures and impacts our behavior and world views, education systems, and social and business interactions tremendously.

I recently read an interesting article posted by the APS Association for Psychological Science based in Washington D.C. “Individualistic Practices and Values Increasing Around the World”, July 17, 2017. I encourage anyone interested in this dimension to read it. The content of this blog comes from the APS article.

Traditionally individualism is most associated with Western countries, but recent research shows that individualism is on the increase globally. Generally speaking, the findings, reveal that social and economic progress is a strong precursor of increasing individualistic values in a country in the long term. There are, however, a few exceptions.

“Much of the research on the manifestation of rising individualism shows, for example, increasing narcissism and higher divorce rates was focused on the United States. Our findings show that this pattern also applies to other countries that are not Western or industrialized,” says psychology researcher Henri C. Santos of the University of Waterloo. “Although there are still cross-national differences in individualism-collectivism, the data indicate that, overall, most countries are moving towards greater individualism.”

“Based on data collected for the World Values Survey, Santos, senior study author Igor Grossmann (University of Waterloo), and study co-author Michael E.W. Varnum (Arizona State University) examined 51 years of collected data describing individualist values and behavior in 78 countries.”

Principally, individualist cultures perceive people as self-determining and independent. They value above all their autonomy and individuality. Collectivist cultures, on the other hand, see people as connected with others and part of a more encompassing social and professional ecosystems. They value above all interdependence, family bonds, interpersonal relationships, and social conformity.

The researchers measured individualism across cultures, by examining data on household size, divorce rates, and proportion of people living alone. They examined data on the value that people place on friends and family, the importance parents allocate to teaching their children to be independent, and the importance or value of self-expression.

The researchers also examined data on specific socio-ecological aspects. They took into consideration:

• the level of socioeconomic progress (i.e. administrative and managerial jobs, levels education and levels in household income)

• disaster frequency,

• extreme environment/climate issues

to help explain any movement towards or away from individualistic behavior over time.

Globally the results indicate that individualistic values and behavior have increased worldwide by 12% since 1960. 39 out of 53 countries showed significant increases in individualism. Economic development and education were the essential drivers in the global increase in individualism.

The researchers point out that “China is an exception to this pattern, showing a decrease in individualist values even though the country has experienced economic growth. Notably, China has a complex socioeconomic history, so it will be worthwhile to investigate this country in more detail in future research.”

Individualism in our daily lives, in the family, at school, and at work manifest itself in many obvious and subtle ways. Individualism can be very different from one individualistic culture to another as in the case of American and Swedish individualism.

Individualist and collectivists mindsets have their advantages-assets and disadvantages-liabilities at work. Each mindset has different impacts on communication, decision making process, innovation… to name just a few.  One is not better than the other. They are just different. Adapting our work behavior to one or the other is never easy at first. However, when we learn to adapt, work with or around and use the best of both mindsets, we develop flexibility, resilience, and grow enormously in our professional lives.