Introduction
Culture has a great influence on the development of our self-identity. Various factors that include; tightness, complexity and individualism versus collectivism found in culture, influence a person’s personality traits. Individualistic cultures emphasize independence, development of self-goals and competitiveness (Matsumoto, 2001). Collectivistic cultures, require an individual to belong to a certain group. Group goals are the priority and one’s behavior is expected to conform to what is acceptable in the group. Collectivist cultures embrace working together whereas in individualistic cultures individuals are self-reliant. A lot of studies suggest that the big 5 personality trait emerge from a variety of cultures.
Discussion
On the individual level of analyzing how individualistic and collectivist culture influence development of personality traits, the terms allocentrism and idiocentrism may be used. Allocentrics are people who have been brought up in collectivist cultures, while idiocentrics are people from individualistic cultures. Idiocentrics tend to be high in competition, hedonism, self-reliance, uniqueness and emotionally distance themselves from in-groups (McCracken, 2008). Allocentrics on the other hand are sociable, interdependent, emphasize family integrity, they appear to care about others, strive to achieve goals developed by the in-groups and form close relationships with in-groups.
People in individualistic cultures view themselves as fixed and view their environment as highly changeable (Cheng, 2009). That is, they view the world in such a way that they can change the environment but not themselves. For example, if an individual from an individualistic culture doesn’t like his/her job, he will get another job. On the contrary, people from collectivist cultures, find their environment fixed and themselves more changeable. For example, an individual from a collectivist culture will change to fit into his job rather than switch jobs.
Individuals from individualistic cultures are likely to be more optimistic and indicate more positive self-esteem as compared to those form collectivist cultures (McCracken, 2008). The differences may be attributed to the fact that from a young stage, people from individualistic cultures are taught to rely on themselves and hence are focused more on improving their own lives. People from individualistic cultures, focus more on the internal behaviors while predicting others behavior while those from collectivist cultures focus more on context (Cheng, 2009).
Belonging to an individualistic culture has impacted my identity in various ways. For instance, I am focused towards achieving my own goals in life. My aspirations are my priority. I am competitive and always striving to be ahead of the rest. I also prefer doing things one my own since I believe that then I can do them perfectly and to my satisfaction.
If I belonged to a collectivist culture my identity would be quite different from what it is today. I would be inclined towards my in-group and many of the actions I undertake would be in conformity to the values of my in-group. The goals of my in-group would come first and I would strive towards achieving them with the help of other peers from the in-group. I would also behave in a way that conforms to the beliefs and values of my in-group. I would highly value family togetherness more and be closer to them as well as being more sociable to other people. In addition, I would have changed myself in order to fit into the kind of person my in-group expects me to be.
Conclusion
Different cultures normally have different values and believes. These differences cause differences in how people perceive themselves. Culture has a great influence on our development when it comes to personality traits, socialization, character and our values and beliefs. Everyone is born into a certain culture and that culture will determine the self-identity he/she will develop. It is good to recognize the influence different cultures have on self-identity to enhance our relations with other cultures.
References
Cheng, R. (2009). Early childhood identity: construction, culture, & the self. New York: Peter Lang Publishers.
Matsumoto, D. R. (2001). The handbook of culture & psychology. New York: Oxford University Press.
McCracken, G. D. (2008). Transformations identity construction in contemporary culture. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
