Thank you for your thoughtful comment. I’m planning to introduce some of the other research on Japanese behavior and values related to collectivism vs individualism in later newsletters. The motor vehicle issue appears to be the idea that getting in a car and driving wherever you wish is individualist, and being comfortable with public transportation is a sign of collectivism. The six indicators are so different so hopefully they act as good counterweights on each other.
My native country, Canada, has historically had high rates of volunteerism which is rooted in collectivist thinking. Japan has a high volunteer population compared to Asian neighbours but lower than Canada.
I've participated in volunteer activities here in Japan with Japanese and foreign people. Volunteerism motivations are on a continuum from true altruism to career enhancement. I get that. Some of the activities I've joined add to my CV but others I do out of a desire to lend the skills I have to communities in need.
But voluntary service still appears to be novel here in Japan. When I tell colleagues and friends I volunteer in education and community building, they seem to be baffled by why I would give my precious time to others. My impression is that collectivist behaviour here revolves around family. employment, neighborhood associations, and shrines, and not so much wider communities.
Thank you, Elizabeth, for your perspective from the point of view of Canada vs Japan in the area of volunteerism. Volunteerism is indeed one measure of collectivism, so whether a given culture is collectivist or not really depends on what you’re measuring.
I would just assume Japan to score super high on collectivism. Of course Japan has (had?) strong entrepreneurialism and of course it certainly has individual thinkers but roughly same as the U.S.?
That's a very good point that needs to be made, loudly and repeatedly. And because the belief is so well anchored (including with quite a few Japanese people around me!), I could use a proper sociologist's approach in driving that point further home. What behaviors or traits that are definitely not on the collectivist side show up strongly in Japan? Does Japan have structural differences with other east Asian cultures like S Korea which are indeed collectivist? (... or is that a myth too??)
I confess that to my clueless self, the link between metrics like "motor vehicles per capita" or whatever and collectivist isn't as obvious as it probably is to experts.
Thank you, Thomas. I mistakenly posted my reply to you as a separate comment. Here it is:
Thank you for your thoughtful comment. I’m planning to introduce some of the other research on Japanese behavior and values related to collectivism vs individualism in later newsletters. The motor vehicle issue appears to be the idea that getting in a car and driving wherever you wish is individualist, and being comfortable with public transportation is a sign of collectivism. The six indicators are so different so hopefully they act as good counterweights on each other.
Thank you for your comment. I agree that sometimes when there’s an interesting expression like 空気を読む, there can be a tendency to read too much into it. I plan to introduce some of the studies that suggest Japan is more individualistic than people think!
This is a really interesting article Kate, and I’d love to sit down later and cogitate about this concept. Being Japanese though, and a terminal returnee, I don’t know…..Just recently, I’ve learned that returnees are still considered as people needing rational accommodation合理的配慮、just like disabled people, so there is still this concept of doing your best to fit in. Maybe when one considers gaikokujin though, the country is probably less collectivist. Anyway, this got me thinking, so thank you! Will post the link.
Thank you for the comment, Kayo. At Waseda I’ve heard about 合理的配慮 but not about it being applied to returnees! Let’s definitely talk about it next time we’re together!
Good article, especially for the deconstruction of the over-reliance on Hofstede. However, I am very confused as to how the metrics in the Global Collectivism Index relate to cultural 'collectivism'. Most of them suggest economic, rather than social factors.
Your point is well taken. The researchers were first and foremost concerned with what kind of reliable global data actually existed. They do explain more about how these indicators relate to collectivism in their paper. I may add a supplementary newsletter to share more on this.
First of all, I agree with you, especially when you consider how many people live alone in Japan, for example. Is the root cause of the persistent misperception of the degree to which Japanese society is collectivist based on historical evidence suggesting that Japan was actually more collective centuries ago?
I think there is historical validity to the 村社会 way of thinking about Japanese society but the problem is when the notion of cultural is reified, as if it’s set in stone rather than something continually created.
Thank you for your thoughtful comment. I’m planning to introduce some of the other research on Japanese behavior and values related to collectivism vs individualism in later newsletters. The motor vehicle issue appears to be the idea that getting in a car and driving wherever you wish is individualist, and being comfortable with public transportation is a sign of collectivism. The six indicators are so different so hopefully they act as good counterweights on each other.
Absolutely fascinating and counter intuitive! Thx for creating and posting this!
My native country, Canada, has historically had high rates of volunteerism which is rooted in collectivist thinking. Japan has a high volunteer population compared to Asian neighbours but lower than Canada.
I've participated in volunteer activities here in Japan with Japanese and foreign people. Volunteerism motivations are on a continuum from true altruism to career enhancement. I get that. Some of the activities I've joined add to my CV but others I do out of a desire to lend the skills I have to communities in need.
But voluntary service still appears to be novel here in Japan. When I tell colleagues and friends I volunteer in education and community building, they seem to be baffled by why I would give my precious time to others. My impression is that collectivist behaviour here revolves around family. employment, neighborhood associations, and shrines, and not so much wider communities.
Correct me if I'm wrong!
Thank you, Elizabeth, for your perspective from the point of view of Canada vs Japan in the area of volunteerism. Volunteerism is indeed one measure of collectivism, so whether a given culture is collectivist or not really depends on what you’re measuring.
I would just assume Japan to score super high on collectivism. Of course Japan has (had?) strong entrepreneurialism and of course it certainly has individual thinkers but roughly same as the U.S.?
I’m quite surprised.
In a few future newsletters I’ll introduce some of the research on ways Japanese people appear to behave in less collectivist ways.
https://www.google.com/search?q=%E5%90%88%E7%90%86%E7%9A%84%E9%85%8D%E6%85%AE+%E8%8B%B1%E8%AA%9E&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=ja&client=safari
Thank you for your kind comment, Stewart!
Brava! Great to read this myth-busting article!
Thank you! I hope it does help reveal the myth for what it is!
That's a very good point that needs to be made, loudly and repeatedly. And because the belief is so well anchored (including with quite a few Japanese people around me!), I could use a proper sociologist's approach in driving that point further home. What behaviors or traits that are definitely not on the collectivist side show up strongly in Japan? Does Japan have structural differences with other east Asian cultures like S Korea which are indeed collectivist? (... or is that a myth too??)
I confess that to my clueless self, the link between metrics like "motor vehicles per capita" or whatever and collectivist isn't as obvious as it probably is to experts.
Thank you, Thomas. I mistakenly posted my reply to you as a separate comment. Here it is:
Thank you for your thoughtful comment. I’m planning to introduce some of the other research on Japanese behavior and values related to collectivism vs individualism in later newsletters. The motor vehicle issue appears to be the idea that getting in a car and driving wherever you wish is individualist, and being comfortable with public transportation is a sign of collectivism. The six indicators are so different so hopefully they act as good counterweights on each other.
How intriguing!
This reminds me of the typical 空気を読む example people give when they want to highlight collectivism in Japan.
Whenever I hear that, I cannot help but think “But don’t we all read social cues? How does this make Japan more collectivist than others?”
It might just be a poor choice of example; they may have a valid point about Japanese collectivism, but I smell confirmation bias.
On a different note, it would be interesting to hear about individualist behaviours that are typical of Japanese culture!
Thank you for your comment. I agree that sometimes when there’s an interesting expression like 空気を読む, there can be a tendency to read too much into it. I plan to introduce some of the studies that suggest Japan is more individualistic than people think!
Looking forward to it!
This is a really interesting article Kate, and I’d love to sit down later and cogitate about this concept. Being Japanese though, and a terminal returnee, I don’t know…..Just recently, I’ve learned that returnees are still considered as people needing rational accommodation合理的配慮、just like disabled people, so there is still this concept of doing your best to fit in. Maybe when one considers gaikokujin though, the country is probably less collectivist. Anyway, this got me thinking, so thank you! Will post the link.
Thank you for the comment, Kayo. At Waseda I’ve heard about 合理的配慮 but not about it being applied to returnees! Let’s definitely talk about it next time we’re together!
Good article, especially for the deconstruction of the over-reliance on Hofstede. However, I am very confused as to how the metrics in the Global Collectivism Index relate to cultural 'collectivism'. Most of them suggest economic, rather than social factors.
Your point is well taken. The researchers were first and foremost concerned with what kind of reliable global data actually existed. They do explain more about how these indicators relate to collectivism in their paper. I may add a supplementary newsletter to share more on this.
First of all, I agree with you, especially when you consider how many people live alone in Japan, for example. Is the root cause of the persistent misperception of the degree to which Japanese society is collectivist based on historical evidence suggesting that Japan was actually more collective centuries ago?
I think there is historical validity to the 村社会 way of thinking about Japanese society but the problem is when the notion of cultural is reified, as if it’s set in stone rather than something continually created.
Thank you for this excellent article!
Thank you for your encouragement. This is a topic I feel strongly about.