Choose to Be More Individualistic or Collectivistic? A Reflection on Marriage Practice in Contemporary Chinese Society

Abstract

This paper explores the evolving dynamics of individualism and collectivism within the context of Chinese modernization, particularly in the realm of marriage practices. Drawing upon Hofstedes cultural dimensions theory, this research conducts two case studies of nominal marriage and marriage migration among rural migrants to assess whether social value in contemporary society reflects a shifting balance between these two values. It finds that there is a trend of departure between biological small self and societal greater self under the modernized environment. Though emerging attention has been paid to individualistic desires for seeking true loves, people still value their social identity when the small- and great- self conflict with each other, possibly through making a compromise to orthodoxy or wrapping themselves in the cloak of individualism to integrate into the so-called modernized urbanites group. Thus, it also indicates that it is hard to define a certain national culture whether appears more individualistic or collectivistic since it depends on what scale it would be measured.