Written by The core group in collectivist cultures is family.
And the definition of family differs across cultures, as we’ve previously discussed.
The West often considers the two-generational core to be “family,” while other cultures include extended relations – or even an entire village – under the umbrella.
Other “groups” in collectivist cultures include in-groups, like the company one works for, or society as a whole.
A group’s success and survival – whether the group is family, the village, the company, or society – ensures individual success and survival.
Because of this, harmony is valued in collectivist cultures, as is interdependence of individual members.
Children are socialized in groups early on in order to become interdependent.
Everyone depends on everyone else, because the group only survives as one.
Being recognized for individual achievement is almost unheard of; rather, collectivists work in tandem and share with group members – both their successes and their failures.
Group Loyalty = Self-Loyalty
In a collectivist culture, group loyalty is self-loyalty.
Think of it this way: society, a company, or a family is like a human body. Each member is a limb or an organ; each member is vital to the body’s function.
So, if one organ fails, the body fails.
If one limb is neglected, then the body isn’t functioning at its most optimal.
It’s with this mentality that collectivist cultures place a higher value on the group than the individual.
An individual’s personal goals and ambitions come second to the group’s overall success and well-being.
To return to our analogy, if a body’s personal goal or ambition was to win an arm-wrestling contest, so it pumped iron every day, focusing only on building up the biceps, but forgot about its legs or its core, then the arms might be able to succeed in meeting their ambition, but the rest of the body would suffer.
This is how collectivist societies view personal goals and ambitions.
Your arm (you, the individual) does not work alone.
A collectivist would sacrifice his own career goals for the sake of the group’s.
Society, First
When society comes first, self comes second.
This is one of the main reasons that in collectivist societies, management differs from individualist cultures.
Last week, we talked about how these differences clash through workplace incentives. “Employee of the Month” is one way in which management in individualist societies incentivize hard work.
But would this work in collectivist cultures? Not so much.
What would then?
We’ll talk about that more next week.
Success Across Cultures 