Chapter 18 - Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Personality

Abstract

This chapter discusses the cultural and personality variation. Culture is related to personality which is not supported by empirical research because there is too much variation in personality within cultures. Culture can be conceptualized as providing a “tool kit” of habits, skills, styles, perspectives, norms, roles, and values out of which each individual can construct a potentially unique strategy for action. This strategy depends on the way the situation is perceived by the individual. There are three interrelated cultural syndromes—complexity, tightness, and individualism-collectivism. Complexity contrasts are the modern, industrial, and affluent cultures, such as the hunters and gatherers or the residents of a monastery. Tightness contrasts cultures where norms are imposed very tightly, allowing very little deviation from proper behavior. Individualism is a cultural syndrome whose elements are organized around autonomous individuals, and is maximal in environments that are complex and loose. Collectivism is a syndrome in which the elements are organized around one or more collectives and is maximal in environments that are simple and tight. Collectivism is characterized by higher rates of association with the in-group and of dissociation with the out-group in comparison with individualism.