Individualist and Collectivist Culture

He who runs alone will win the race —American Proverb

The sheep that’s separate from the flock is eaten by the wolf —Turkish Proverb

Looking at the two proverbs above, we can correctly find the distinction between these countries—America and Turkey. We can know that each America and Turkey has different societal structures, business norms and ways of forming relationships. Analyzing cultural norms is not a means to determine a 'model' way of life, but it is a way of understanding how countries and individuals interact on a local, national and international scale. Turkey and the America are leading global super powers, and yet they have very different cultural practices. Not only between America and Turkey, but we can also see the differentiation between country such as Australia, Great Britain, Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand, Italy, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, France and some other country like Guatemala, Equador, Panama, Venezuela, Columbia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Costa Rica, Peru, and Taiwan.

Again, from the proverbs above, we can conclude that America and Turkey (and of course the other country) have different concepts of the definition of “self”. Each country has their own different view of life—and their way of conducting business. Some country belongs to individualist culture and some other belongs to collective culture.

See also: The Advantages and Disadvantages Of Individual And Collective Culture