Yu et al. (2016) compared the use of first-person pronouns across a total of nine different languages. This allowed the authors to evaluate individualistic versus collectivistic cultural attitudes. The study covered the use of pronouns in language for a period of 59 years by researching documentation of language use. The authors equated the use of first-person singular pronouns to more individualistic cultures, whereas the use of first-person plural pronouns were indicative of a higher sense of collectivist culture.
Yu et al. (2016) used the Google Ngram Database, purported to hold approximately 5% of all published human work. The authors determined their time frame for the study based on the languages included in the database: American English, British English, Simplified Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Spanish, Russian and Italian. Because the authors identified Chinese as the language representing the most collectivist culture, the time frame was established based on the founding of the People’s Republic of China and subsequent establishment of a new grammatical system in the Chinese language. The study was ended in 2008 which was the most current year in the database at the time of the study (Yu et al., 2016).
In their review, the author’s considered the change in trends among those languages as it related to the use of first-person singular pronouns such as I or me as opposed to the use of the respective language’s first-person plural pronoun such as we or us (Yu et al., 2016). The database the authors used to allow users to sort by language and search for the number of occurrences of a given word.
I found this article interesting because it demonstrates a cultural change around the world which is occurring across nations that may be largely unrelated. Regardless of where on the continuum each country began, each showed increase individualism, except as previously mentioned British English (Yu et al., 2016). This suggests a trending change caused by reasons other than geographic or social connectedness.
This research contributed to previous research that had been done in the study of cross-cultural comparisons. Notably, the authors pointed out that even among the most traditional cultures, there is a steady move towards individualism (Yu et al., 2016). Also, because the authors used within-group comparisons as opposed to strictly separating Eastern and Western cultures, they discovered similarities in the individualistic versus collectivistic shifts. Finally, the authors noted that by considering a large amount of data across an extensive period of time they could account for changes by using historical information to help predict and explain the trends they found (Yu et al., 2016).
Based on their findings, I understand how they drew their conclusions and agree with their findings. As the authors noted, additional research would be required to explain the cause of these changes (Yu et al., 2016). It would make sense, however, that an increase in the accessibility of media from Western societies, known to be more individualistic, there could be a model of similar behavior which shifts cultural perspectives. Further, collectivist societies were probably more useful in worlds where interdependency dictated survival. When there is less need for interdependency in a culture in order to survive, those cultures would have less need, and conversely more freedom, to focus on individualistic ideals. Future studies on the reasons for these shifts in cultures would be appropriate.
Future studies could lead to greater ability to predict shifts in culture. By being able to predict shifts in the culture, the future of economies and politics may be more predictable. This would allow leadership to better prepare for changes that could be expected, thus allowing for less dysfunction when those changes inevitably occur. With increased preparation, less civil unrest would likely occur.
Given the resources to do so, I would like to explore additional cultural shifts which have been seen and documented over time. By studying previous changes in their historical context, it would be possible to know if cultural shifts serve as a predicate for economic, social and political shifts. And if that is the case, would it allow one to learn from history and better prepare for the future.
References
Yu, F., Peng, T., Peng, K., Tang, S., Chen, C., Qian, X., Chai, F. (2016). Cultural value shifting in pronoun use. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 47 (2), 310-316.
