Social Psychology: The Major Concepts in Collectivism and Individualism - Term Paper Example

Final Essay Exam – Social Psychology 323 The take-home final essay exam is worth 100 points. Type your answers into this document, completed answerswill be submitted via SafeAssign on Blackboard by 11:59 p.m. on the due date listed in your current course schedule. Essay answers must be in APA format: 1” margins, double-spaced, 12pt Times New Roman font, ?” indent each paragraph. Required length: each answer should be a minimum of 1 page, maximum of 2 pages. A minimum of 3 in-text citations are required for each answer, Failure to include the minimum of 3 in-text citations will result in an automatic 10 pt.

deduction. Citing outside sources (outside of your textbook), is HIGHLY recommended for full credit. Of course, it is expected that you will use your textbook as an integral source to begin supporting your answer. Sources should be limited to professional peer-reviewed journal articles or published books. Webpages are not considered valuable sources for this assignment. Include APA citations for all sources used. Plagiarism will not be accepted and will result in 0 points. You may submit a draft of your essay exam to SafeAssign to check plagiarism.

Points will also be deducted for misspellings and run-on sentences and/or sentence fragments, and improper grammar. Essays should be written in a professional voice, as if you are presenting information to an academic committee (even if the question asks for personal opinion/experience). Use your knowledge of how to write an appropriate essay: Introduction, body (which includes supporting arguments), and a strong conclusion. Remember to have transition sentences between all of these topics in your essays.

As your syllabus states, the final essay exam is cumulative, questions will be from chapter 7-11. Remember to remove all highlights, and type your response. Good Luck. 1. As you may remember, cultures may be measured as to their norm of collectivism/individualism. What is meant by these terms? How does valuing a group play into one's acceptance of, and abiding by, its norms? Discuss some of the major concepts in collectivism/individualism. First, mention the issue of identification (high or low), and then how this was tied into collectivism/individualism.

Give examples of each and support with outside research. The influence of culture as an explanatory variable is described in various areas such as social, economic and scientific fields like social perception, organization of companies and industries, and economic development. Researchers can, therefore, categorize cultures empirically, and create a complex description of various cultures by measuring and identifying these arenas. A culture, in a broader perspective, comprises of shared norms, behaviors, beliefs, customs, and values, which are valued by the members of a given society, and it is also passed from one generation to another through teaching (Baron & Branscombe, 2011).

The development of cross-cultural psychology describes the significance of defining and identifying culture, in a language that is easily comprehensible, and into dimensions, which can be measured with ease. For instance, individualism/collective dimension is the most researched cultural dimension, in cross-cultural psychology. This part of the article, describes the meaning and concepts of individualism/collectivism dimension, and how valuing of a group plays significant roles in an individual’s acceptance of, and abiding by, its norms.

According to Hofstede, collectivism describes a society in which people are joined together by strong and cohesive in-groups that protect them, in exchange for remaining loyal (Matsumoto, 2001). In this context, members of a given society learn to identify themselves as “we,” in such a way that their personal identities derive protection and security from self-belonging to the “we” group” (Matsumoto, 2001). A collectivist culture demands the maintenance of peace and harmony through a social contact that entails various aspects on an individual’s life like workplace and school.

On the other hand, Hofstede defines individualism in the context of a person’s ties with his or her society. In such a society, people are expected to take care of themselves and their families. Additionally, individualistic culture requires speaking of a person’s mind, where people are required to express their feelings truthfully, even if it may lead to confrontation (Matsumoto, 2001). Hofstede also argues that a person can either be high on collectivism or individualism, but not both (Matsumoto, 2001).

The high-low context of individualism and collectivism is best understood along a cultural continuum. For instance, Hall argues that high-context cultures have restricted code systems. In this case, people who use restricted code system depends more on the contextual aspects of the communication setting than actual language code for information (Diener & Suh, 2000). Restricted-code cultures are normally evident in a collectivist society where communication between individuals is not valued, but it is only valued when communicated to particular places, people and times.

Additionally, people in high-context cultures will rely on the information gathered from the sociorelational, perceptual and physical environment. For example, two brothers brought up together can communicate more effectively than two doctors in an operating room. In other words, people in high-context (collectivism) cultures acts according to other people’s roles (Diener & Suh, 2000). Their words and actions are meant to convey a meaning. On the other hand, Hall also argues that Low context cultures (individualism) rely on elaborated codes (Diener & Suh, 2000).

For example, when communicating, people from individualistic cultures primarily rely on verbal code system for developing and interpreting information (Diener & Suh, 2000). In summary, individualism/collective dimension is the most studied cultural dimension, in cross-cultural psychology. In a collectivist culture, members of a given society learn to identify themselves as “we”. In this context, people usually tend to act in accordance to other people’s roles and actions. Individualistic culture, on the other hand, requires its people to express their feelings truthfully.

In this case, people are expected to relate in a way that is consistent with their personal feelings. Additionally, its members are expected to take care of their families and themselves, other than depending on the community. Researchers also argue that an individual can either be low on collectivism or individualism, but not both. This means that an individual, in a given culture, cannot exhibit both collectivism and individualism behaviors in his or her culture. References for Question 1 Matsumoto D. R. (2001).

The Hanbook of Culture & Psychology. London: Oxford University Press. Diener E, Suh E. M. (2000). Culture Subjective Well Being. Cambridge: MIT Press. Baron R. A, Branscombe N. R. (2011). Social Psychology. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall. 2. Describe the need for affiliation. Are there individual differences on this trait? What about when this need is not met? Describe a common situational influence on the need. Do some people not have the need? Describe the results of experiments that investigated that question affiliation.

David McClelland theory of need for affiliation asserts that people with high need for affiliation require harmonious relationships with others, and a sense of belonging within a given group, which can either be social or work groups (Baron & Branscombe, 2011). In order to be accepted into these groups, they have to abide by the norms of their social or work groups. People with high need for affiliation prefer working in groups, which encourage significant personal interactions. Additionally, an individual’s need for affiliation usually varies over a given time (Johnson, 2008).

This is because an individual’s feelings of being alone or with other, usually changes over sometime. This, therefore, is an indication that different people exhibit individual differences on this trait because there are some people who prefer solving some problems individually while the same problem is solved collectively by some other people (Johnson, 2008). People who fail to achieve this trait are usually referred to as “socially isolated”. They may find it difficult conforming to the group norms and working together with other team members.

According McClelland, almost member of a society requires the need for affiliation to survive in different situations. For example, members of a given society usually put aside their differences and work together in response for some problems, for example, terrorist activities (Jelencic, 2011). For instance, problems that inflict fear within a community usually pull different people together and rigger the development of a need for affiliation. This is because fear that is developed as a result of anxiety increases an individual’s need to alias with other people who are experiencing the same problem or situation (Jelencic, 2011).

All members of a society have the need for affiliation because this need influences every person’s effectiveness and motivation in handling a given situation. McClelland experimental result indicated that individuals with high need for affiliation tend to establish warm interpersonal relationships with the people they regularly interact with. This is because they strive to perform their tasks in a way that promotes personal interaction. In summary, the theory of need for affiliation argues that people with high need for affiliation require harmonious relationships with others, and a sense of belonging within a given group.

These people also strive to abide by the norms of their social or work groups to be accepted into these groups. A person’s need for affiliation also changes from one person to another, and it also varies from one individual to another. People who fail to achieve this trait fail to conform to a group’s norms. References for Question 2 Baron R. A, Branscombe N. R. (2011). Social Psychology. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall. Jelencic M. (2011). Motivation Theories - An Overview. Santa Cruz: GRIN Verlag.

Johnson A. (2008). The Influence of Need for Achievement, Need for Affiliation, Leadership Support, and Organizational Culture on Organizational Citizenship Behavior. Michigan: ProQuest.