Individualism versus Collectivism Essay

The concepts of individualism and communism apply to the definition of societies and individuals deep d make the society. Cultures vary in their levels of individualism/ collectivism fleck individuals within these specific cultures vary on the same dimension. Idiocentric and allocentric be constructs that are rattling important in differentiating consistent variations of an individuals attitudes, beliefs, self-definition, normative bearing and self-definition. Individualism is termed as the persons level of idiocentric while collectivism is the persons level of allocentric (Udehn, 2001).Idiocentric individuals underline much on their deliver goals and needs over those of the grouping to which they belong. They are much independent and self-reliant. On the other hand, allocentric individuals execute to be more cooperative, interdependent and they also prevail a stronger desire to partner with others. In addition allocentric and idiocentric individuals differ in their sou rce of intimacy and companionship to satisfy their several needs and to inflect their self-esteem. For instance, idiocentric obtains their mixer maintenance from peers and best friends while allocentrics obtain their social support from their parents.Individuals with allocentric tendencies have fewer daily but more in-depth discussions than individuals with idiocentric tendencies. People who sway more allocentric or idiocentric tendencies vary in various ways. For instance, the people who tend to be more allocentric have good reliability and inter-correlation thus viewing convergent validity. They are characterized with three main aspects which include individual to group goals, in-group as extension of the self and in-group identity. Individuals who are more idiocentric mainly utilization equity and need in distributing rewards.Individuals who are more allocentric mainly emphasize on the values of cooperation, fairness and honesty while individuals who are more idiocentric pu t much emphasis on values of comfortable life, competition, entertainment and social recognition. Persons who are allocentric receive much and better quality social support while those who are more idiocentric are usually higher(prenominal) in achievement motivation, alienation and greater loneliness. The difference between incorporated and individualist cultures is mainly based on self.In collectivist cultures, the self is more linked to in-group memberships while in individualist cultures self-concept is obtained from independently groups which are based on the varying characteristics and contributions of the individual. In collectivists cultures, there is high trammel to the goals of the in-group and to in-group values and also the maintaining of in-group harmony (Lee & Kelly 1996). In individualistic societies, the aims and the goals of a particular individual are more important and less substance is attached to in-group harmony.Nevertheless, individualism is mainly based on Western cultures while collectivism is related with Eastern cultures. Collectivistic cultures have lower rate of suicide, psychopathology and relatively higher marital satisfaction than individualistic cultures. I consider myself to be idiocentric. This is because I always concentrate on my own goals and achievement over those of the other people and I carry disclose my tasks independently. I normally display a different tendency towards the allocentric.For instance, in making procure of luxury brands, I purchase goods for my own saki pleasures ad interests while the allocentric purchase the luxury brands only with an aim of desire social recognition (McCarthy, 2005). As a result of these differences, conflict and misinterpretation emerges. This is because as a personally motivated consumer, I will purchase the luxury brands for self-interests while on the other hand an allocentric individual who is socially motivated will make the purchase of luxury brands with an aim of desire social recognition.