Education for a Digital World Advice, Guidelines and Effective Practice from Around Globe, 2008a

4 – Addressing Diversity in Design of Online Courses
and long-term versus short-term orientation highlights
the predominant focus of people within the group,
namely the future or the present (Hofstede, 2001, p. 29).
Of these five dimensions most of the variance in the data
was accounted for by the individualism and collectivism
(I-C) dimension. Since the publication of the original
work in 1980 a multitude of research and theory has the
I-C dimension as a focus (Church, 2000; Triandis, 2004).
Triandis (1995b) defines individualism as “a social
pattern that consists of loosely linked individuals who
view themselves as independent of collectives; are primarily
motivated by their own preferences, needs,
rights, and the contracts they have established with others;
give priority to personal goals over the goals of others;
and emphasize rational analyses of the advantages
and disadvantages to associating with others”. Collectivism
on the other hand is “a social pattern consisting
of closely linked individuals who see themselves as parts
of one or more collectives (family, co-workers, tribe,
nation); are primarily motivated by the norms of, and
duties imposed by, those collectives; are willing to give
priority to the goals of these collectives over their own
personal goals; and emphasize their connectedness to
members of these collectives” (p. 2). These differences
can be summarised as:
• A sense of self as independent versus self that is connected
to in-groups. Markus and Kitayama (1991)
view this as independent versus the interdependent
self-construal
• Personal goals have priority versus group goals have
priority
• Social behaviour guided by attitudes, personal needs
and rights versus social behaviour guided by norms,
obligations, and duties (Church, 2000; Triandis, 1995b)
In addition to these general contrasts the following attributes
tend to be reflective of the I-C dimension (see
Table 4.1).
It is important to note that to this point the terms
individualism and collectivism and the corresponding
attributes refer to the cultural level where the unit of
analysis is the culture (i.e., between culture analyses) and
individualism is the opposite of collectivism (Hofstede,
1980). To make the distinction between the cultural and
individual level of analysis (i.e., within-culture analyses),
Triandis Leung, Villareal & Clack (1985) used the terms
idiocentrism and allocentrism (I-A) that describe individual
personality attributes (Triandis and Suh, 2002, p. 140).
Table 4.1. Attributes of individualist and collectivist cultures
Attributes Individualist Collectivist
Self-perception individual group
Attributions internal causes external causes
Prediction of behaviour
more accurate
based on
internal dispositions
such as personality
traits or attitudes
social roles or norms
Identity & emotions ego-focused relationships & group
membership; other
focused
Motivation emphasize abilities emphasize effort
Cognition
Attitudes
Norms
Social behaviour
Attitudes towards
privacy
Communication
see themselves as
stable and the environment
as changeable
self-reliance, hedonism,
competition, emotional
detachment from ingroups
curiosity, broadminded,
creative, having an
exciting and varied life
personality more evident
personal business is
private
• direct
• emphasizes content
and clarity
• frequent use of “I”
see their environment
as stable and themselves
as changeable/
flexible
sociability, interdependence,
family
integrity
family security, social
order, respect for tradition,
honouring parents
and elders, security and
politeness
influenced by behaviour
and thoughts of others;
shifts depending on
context
personal business is also
business of group
• message is indirect
and reliant on hints,
eyes bodies, etc.
• emphasizes context
and concern for feelings
and face-saving
• frequent use of “we”
Conflict resolution more direct obliging, avoiding,
integrating, & compromising
styles
Morality
prefer attitudes and
behaviour are consistent
Responsibility individual collective
Professional
behaviour
promotion based on
personal attributes
• contextual and
focused on welfare of
the collective
• linked to adherence
of many rules
promotion on the basis
of seniority & loyalty
Sources: (Church, 2000; Triandis, 1995b; Triandis and Suh, 2002)
44 Education for a Digital World