Sociology and Social Constructs - Essay Example

Social construct exists because people agree to behave as if it exists, or concur as if to comply with certain conventional rules, or behave as if such accord or rules came into being (Social Constructs 2007). One social construct is individualism. It places the individual as the center of the social structures. For Hofstede, individualism "pertains to societies wherein the ties between individuals are loose, where everyone is expected to look after himself or herself and his or her immediate family (as cited by Allik and Realo.). As opposed to collectivism, which holds that the group (e.g. the nation, the community, the race, etc.

is the primary unit of "reality and the ultimate standard of value," individualism points the individual as the principal unit of reality. His individual person, and not a certain group where he belongs in, is its main focus. For Tocqueville, selfishness is "a passionate and exaggerated love of self, leading a man to connect everything with himself and to prefer himself to everything in the world." On the other hand, his concept of individualism is "a mature and calm feeling, which disposes each member of the community to sever himself from the mass of his fellows and to draw apart with his family and his friends, so that after he has thus formed a little circle of his own, he willingly leaves society at large to itself (Democracy in America 1835).

" Based from his definition selfishness concerns more on the emotional craving to love one's self, while individualism is more a mature feeling that makes a member of a society to choose it. Another common misconception is individualism's relation with isolation. Isolation means being alone and being outside of the social sphere. Individualism is a sociological concept that puts the individual at the pedestal. It makes individuals as the unit by which a society's achievement is measured. The common misconception about individualism is that the individual is emphasized and it disregards other members in the society.

While it is true that individuals are given emphasis on this social construct, individualism only empowers the members of the society to freely choose what they prefer doing. This social construct should be viewed from the perspective of society wherein individuals are given the freedom to choose what they want in life. Individuals are responsible for himself and society's role is very minimal (Individualism 2007). Individualism and Collectivism After clarifying individualism from the common misconceptions about it, let us further illuminate this confusing term by differentiating it from its contradictory term - collectivism.

As mentioned above, individualism puts individual members of the group as the unit by which the success or achievement of a group is based on. Collectivism, on the other hand views a social group as the basis. When an individualist, for example, comments on a crime the fault solely rests in the hands of the individual. The social group wherein he is part of is minimal. This makes individuals responsible for their actions. Collectivism stresses that the society is