Title: Personality and Culture (sample research paper)
Headings: Personality and Culture: Individualism Versus Collectivism
Personality and Culture: Individualism Versus Collectivism
RUNNING HEAD: Personality and Culture
ABSTRACT
Bibliography

Content: Common personal experiences may indicate that this is the case. For example, there are persistent personality differences between siblings in areas described by the individualism-collectivism framework, despite the fact that these siblings were usually raised not only in the same culture, but also in the same household. As such, it is not possible to attribute all of the factors described within the individualism-collectivism framework only to the cultural influence described. However, neither can it be said that the individual development of the personality is completely free of cultural influence, and as such it is necessary to consider this influence when considering the individual development of the personality. Consideration of the issue of the individualism-collectivism cultural framework in comparison to personality theories, including those of Erickson and Jung, creates a balance between the cultural individualism-collectivism framework and the personality theory that can describe the creation of the individual personality within this culture. Individualism and collectivism are cultural traits that describe the common attitude toward the individual as compared to the group (Kim & Hakkoe, 1994). A canonical comparison of individualism and collectivism on the cultural scale are the United States, which ranks as a highly individualist society, and Japan, which ranks as a highly collectivist society. These societies are remarkably different in many ways. The United States culture traditionally focuses on individual achievement and income levels, focuses on the small family group or the individual, praises and promotes free thinking and individual self-expression and values individual choices that can be made, and sees the human experience as separate from the natural world, setting humans above the natural world at most times (Hofstede, 2001). In contrast, Japanese society focuses on the group achievement above the individual achievement (to the point that a common saying in Japan is “The nail that sticks up will be hammered down”), emphasizes the common good and familial connections, does not promote free thinking or personal expression, does not encourage free-form artistic techniques but instead relies heavily on ritualized forms and structures, and places relatively little emphasis on personal choice or freedom of choice (Hofstede, 2001).