A collectivist culture tends to view themselves as members of groups (families, work units, tribes, nations), and usually considers the needs of the group to be more important than the needs of individuals.
Most Asian cultures, including China, tend to be collectivist.
Another example between individualism and collectivism is Piety (respect for elders). In the West, evidence suggests that the young are doted on to the point where many Western children are spoiled and rude while in China that same energy is focused on the elders—at least it was before Western fast food and consumerism appeared in China.
When there is an interest conflict between individuals and the collective, individuals are expected to sacrifice their own benefits for the sake of the collective well-being.
An individualist culture is one in which people tend to view themselves as individuals and to emphasize the needs of individuals.
Source: Travel China Guide – a discussion about individualist and Collectivist Cultures
Return to The Collective Culture versus Individualism – Part 4 or start with Part 1
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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of My Splendid Concubine [3rd edition]. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the lusty love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.
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