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culture is responsible for where we prefer to live
the way we raise our children how we prerpare the food
what we value how we talk to one another and so on
in short cultrue is responsiblbe for how we live
but because culture in its perception can be an unweildy concept
it's useful to think of culture as some basic categories
one way of thinking about culture involves two basic categories: individualism and collectivism
this conceptualization uses a continuum based on the primary value of the individual versus
the primary value of the group neither value is better than the other
in fact both exist in some degree in all cultures briefly stated people in an individualistic
culture are more concerned with the needs, goals and interests of an individual than
those of a group people in collectivistic culture are more
concerned with the group's needs, goals and interests of
an individual these basic orientations determine or affect
our values goals, inspirations and most importantly how
we relate to other people in our lives people in individualistic cultures tend to
emphasize self actualisation, individual initiative
and achievement they focus on "I" identity
in individualistic cultures people are supposed to look
after themselves and their immediate family only
the USA and Australia are examples of individualistic cultures
as they tend to emphasize individual rights like freedom independence and individuality
they also emphasize equality applying the same value
standards universally individuals and individualistic cultures tend
to have a self -other orientation towards relationships
meaning that while the other is present the self is most important
in collectivistic cultures people stress fitting in with and belonging to the in-group and
they focus on a "WE" identity in collectivistic cultures people are supposed
to look after the in-group in return to loyalty emphasis is placed in belonging to a group
in collectivistic cultures as such family relations loyalty and harmony
are highly valued in collectivistic cultures such as
China Colombia Costa Rica and Indonesia collectivistic cultures apply different value
standards based on ingroup or outgroup membership that is
they apply them paticularistically individuals in collectivistic cultures tend
to have a self-other orientation toward relationships
meaning that the other is more important than oneself
clearly the concept of individualism versus collectivism
does not explain all forms of cultural variations but it's a starting point for understanding
our own behaviour and that of others
increased understanding is the first step in effective intercultural communication