INDIVIDUALISM VS COLLECTIVISM DIMENSION: RESPONSE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Apart from their contrasting economic systems, notable trends have shown that cultural ideology partly forms the basis of the capitalist versus socialist debate. Capitalistic societies uphold the ‘I’ notion whereas socialistic societies uphold the ‘We’ notion. Essentially, the glaring difference between the two societies in the context of culture is defined by the ‘I’ vs ‘We’ mentality or the individualistic vs collectivistic dimension. According to Geert Hofstede, a Dutch social psychologist, there are six cultural dimensions that influence how a particular society functions, and on this week’s blog, I would like to focus on the Individualism vs Collectivism dimension.
Hofstede defines this dimension as ‘The degree to which people in a country prefer to act as individuals rather than as members of groups.’ He continues to elaborate by adding that ‘Individualism is defined as a situation in which people are concerned with themselves and close family members only, while collectivism is defined as a situation in which people feel they belong to larger groups which care for them in exchange for loyalty and vice versa’ (Hofstede & Bond, 1984). In a nutshell, Individualistic societies prioritize self-reliance over team effort while collectivistic societies prioritize the opposite.
Given the current state of the globe, coronavirus is present in almost every country, yet it resulted in very different outcomes, varying from country to country. With that said, questions arise: Does the degree of individualism or collectivism impact a country’s response to and outlook on the aforementioned virus? Are collectivistic societies better at responding to pandemics as compared to individualistic societies?
Multiple studies have been conducted to answer these questions and understand the why behind them. A key study conducted by UBC Sauder School of Business, titled ‘Individualism During Crises’ (2020) gives insights into how the individualistic culture of the United States of America, has undermined compliance with state lockdown policies by around 50%. The study highlights that a considerable number of U.S citizens have a high level of individualism, as such, they barely adhere to the health and safety guidelines set by the government. Moreover, they prioritize family socialization over government advice. Certain experts even argue that the U.S having one of the highest coronavirus cases globally is heavily attributed to this very individualistic culture.
After going through multiple studies conducted on the matter at hand, it is crystal clear to me that they all hold a similar narrative — that citizens of countries that uphold values of collectivism, are most likely to comply with the health and safety guidelines that reduce the spread of COVID-19. Subsequently, such countries have a faster, more compelling, and more effective response to the pandemic. Take for example Taiwan, despite not being a member of the World Health Organization(WHO), it has witnessed substantial success in dealing with the pandemic. For instance, a study shows that the average Taiwanese citizen actively took part in the mask rationing system set up by the government, which prevented hoarding and panic buying of masks. Thus contributing to the initial goal of every citizen owning a mask.
As I conclude on this topic, I am not merely arguing for collectivistic cultures over individualistic cultures. Rather, I would like to emphasize that in order to beat this pandemic, there is need for all of us to not only adopt collective sensibility with regards to the pandemic, but also individually take up preventive measures against the virus. This will go a long way in helping us get the world back to normal.
References:
Hofstede, G. and Bond, H.M. (1984) Hofstede’s culture dimensions: An independent validation using Rokeach’s value survey. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 15(4), pp. 417–433.
UBC Sauder School of Business (2020) ‘Individualism During Crises’
