Individualism Vs Collectivism Essay

Individualism versus Collectivism and Creativity

Individualism versus collectivism relates to integration of individuals into primary groups. Individualism insists on personal achievement and freedom. Culture following individualism award special social status to its people for making significant contribution to science, economy, and art, etc. (Platteau, 2000). On the other hand, collectivism emphasized collection of people at large or in groups. In collectivist cultures, individual contributions are viewed as suspicious and individuals are made to share their surplus with others in the community (Platteau, 2000). It penalizes the rich and favors the poor. The penalty can be made by the loss of status, social ostracism or other punishments like violence. This is done to ensure that

Individualist cultures have strong social prestige which motivates its members to be creative to gain social status rewards (Wagner & Hollenbeck, 2010). Collectivist cultures have increased coordination capability which leads to an efficient economy. The ceteris paribus between collectivism and individualism is that collectivism leads to the better economy due to better coordination abilities whereas individualism leads to improved creativity and innovation which ultimately leads to the growth of economy due to the rewards of creativity (A. Locke, G. Noorderhaven, P. Cannon, M. Doney & R. Mullen, 1999). Higher creativity in individualist culture ultimately leads to higher levels of productivity and output than the collectivist culture (A. Locke, G. Noorderhaven, P. Cannon, M. Doney & R. Mullen, 1999). There exists a strong correlation between individualism and creativity (Gorodnichenko & Roland, 2012). In a long run, individualism has a strong impact on creativity. Culture is an important aspect to understand the growth of a community or culture. At the same time,