How Collectivistic Culture and Individualistic Culture Influence Human Development
This is an evidence-based synthesis paper developed with 15 current primary research articles dating from 2015 to 2022. The focus of this review was on collectivistic and individualistic cultures and their relation to human development. These articles included information that explains the significance of using culture in research, similarities and differences between cultures, psychosocial development in relation to culture, and attachment styles in cultures. A similar finding amongst several of the articles was a warning against dichotomizing cultures as individualistic versus collectivistic. While this is an effective way to evaluate and categorize cultures, it must not be the only form of evaluating cultures used or be used to misjudge cultures for their differences. In the studies I reviewed it became evident that there is a similar life trajectory across cultures. People from each culture believed that life gets better as we get older, people made changes in efforts to enhance their view of life, and that our well-being is based on if our needs are being met. However, in each of these findings researchers also discovered that each culture differed in the way they accomplished these goals. Participants from different cultures also differed in the way that they approached attachment, yet attachment is a pancultural experience as it is an innate human characteristic. From the studies it also became apparent that culture influences psychosocial development and cognition because there were significant differences in social skills, and the way participants thought between individualistic and collectivistic cultures. Culture sensitivity is a relatively new perspective that is becoming increasingly popular and was used while writing this paper. It also should be used when reading this paper.
PSY 499 – Senior Capstone
Erin Mueller
1:30pm – 2:00pm L203