Individualism vs. Collectivism in Japan as compared to America - Essay Example

Individualism Vs Collectivism in Japan As Compared To America al Affiliation Introduction Individualism refers to the where the political philosophy, ideologies or the social outlook of a person or a group emphasizes on the moral worth of the individual over that of the entire society. In this way, individualists promote the accomplishment of one’s goals and desires over the interests of the social group that s/he is in. On the other and collectivism is any philosophic or social outlook that takes promotes interdependence among individuals and having the interest of the larger society rather than the interests of individual alone.

In this paper we shall look at individualism and collectivism in Japan as compared to America (Matsumoto et. al. 2008).Discussion of Information According to a study done by the Hofstede Center on the Japanese people on individualism and collectivism, Japan scored 46% on the individual dimension. This stands to illustrate that majority of the society uphold collectivism rather than individualism. The Japanese society shows collectivistic characteristics like those of putting the interests of the group and society above the interests of the individual.

However, though the Japanese shows collectivistic characteristics they have been known to have much loyalty to their companies unlike other collectivistic societies like Chine who likely hop around companies (Kobayashi, 2009). This is an individualistic characteristic.The US society on the other hand scores 91% on the individualistic side. This shows that majority of the people practice individualism. It is one of the most individualistic cultures in the world. Due to the culture then it means that majority of the people in the society look after themselves and their immediate family.

In business the Americans like to interact with new people and there is great geographical mobility.All this exhibits the characteristics of an individualistic culture as the people are striving to make their own survival means.Comparing and contrasting the Two In Japan the score for individualism was 46% which showed that 54% of the people uphold collectivism. In the US, 91% of the people will uphold individualism while just 9% will uphold collectivism. This is a great difference in the two societies which shows the culture have been subjected to different experiences and so the difference in perceptions.

The only similarity among the two societies is their perception to working. The Japanese and the US people are known to be loyal to their companies and if the conditions are appealing they can really stick in one company for long (The Hofstede Cenetre). Other Areas that could have been explored To understand the concept of collectivism and individualism pretty well it would have been good to look at the power distance similarities and differences in the two societies. Power distance is defined as the degree of influence a person would have on the other.

If the power distance is high then that would favour the collectivist society and if it is low it would favour the individualistic society. In our analysis the power distance score in the US society is 40% and in Japan it is 54% (The Hofstede Centre)ReferencesKobayashi, E. (2009). Differences in Individualistic and Collectivistic Tendencies among CollegeStudents in Japan and the United States. Retrieved from: http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1052&context=ssci_fac Matsumoto, D.

, Kudoh, T. & Takeuchi, S. (2008, March 1st). Changing Patterns of Individualism and Collectivism in the United States and Japan: Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.http://cap.sagepub.com/content/2/1/77 The Hofstede Centre. (n.d). Cultural Tools and Surveys. http://geert-hofstede.com/japan.html