A rearch on Individualism and Collectivism in Mexico
Melissa, Gabriel & Candice
Abstract
The aim of this project is to know if people in Mexico are individualistic or collectivistic. The participants are 48 Mexicans who ages were between 18-21.
The method we ud was to create a survey with different examples of situations that imply if a person prefers to work in groups or do things on his/her own. Our participants were invited to the survey online and have responded to 8 questions concerned about the factors that might reflect the mentality of our participants.
Our findings were surprising. According to Hofstede’s theories about “culture dimensions”, we should be expecting the Mexican culture to be more collectivistic. However, according to the rearch and the surveys, we found out that our Mexican participants preferred to do things in an individual way. Also, they had a tendency of looking for their own benefit instead of working for the group’s collec tive interest. Bad on the results of our surveys, it is inferred that Mexico is more individualistic becau M
exicans are wor at working in groups. It is something difficult for them and they don’t like it. For example, when Mexicans are working in a group in school, they tend to look for their own benefit. They work for their grades and make sure that there are no free-riders to steal their effort.
Introduction
According to Hofstede, Individualism on the one side versus its opposite, Collectivism, as a societal, not an individual, characteristic, is the degree to which people in a society are integrated into groups. The issue addresd by this dimension is an extremely fundamental one, regarding all societies in the world. Hofstede believed that individualism prevails in developed and Western countries, while collectivism prevails in less-developed and Eastern countries.
This is a picture describing the culture dimensions of Mexico. According to this picture, individualism is relatively low in Mexico, which means that collectivism is relatively high. We designed a
questionnaire with 8 questions concerning about different aspects that might let us grab a glimp of the mentality of our participants. For example, “Were you born into a large or a small family?” This question is to e whether our participants were born into a small family and tend to be more individualistic or a big family and tend to be more collectivistic.
Before we started collecting the results, we were almost certain that the answers will reflect a mentality that’s more collectivism becau the Latino culture is known to have a low rating in individualism. However, the results can be the opposite.
Method
The method we ud for this rearch was to make surveys with different questions of situations in which people would either be individualistic or collectivistic, depending on the answer. We wanted to describe certain situations in which people would feel identified, and then the answer would tell us a
bout the way they liked to work. There were no open questions, we ud a multiple question survey, so it would be easier for the participants to choo the right answer and not to think so much about it. Multiple questions are easier to do becau you only have options and the participants don’t need to write anything, it would only make it more difficult for the rearch. The survey contains 8 questions, and some of them are examples of situations in which the person will choo between three answers, one is designed for individualistic people, the other one for
collectivistic people and the last one is for the people who wouldn’t know what to do in that situation.
Bad on the answers that the participants gave in the survey, we would be able to know if the sample of Mexican people who did the survey is either individualistic or collectivistic.
Results
Thanks to our rearch, we found out that Mexican people are more individualistic.
Now we’re going to e the percentage of the results and the graphics:
The first question: Were you born in a large or small family?
66.7% of the people said that they were born in a small family, also 31.3% said that they were born in a large family and the other 2.1% said that they did not want to say.
The cond question: When you're in an argument, Do you prefer to say something or you remain in silent?
77.1% said that they prefer to say something during the argument and the other 22.9% said that they remain in silent during the argument.
The third question: If it's your cousin’s b irthday but you have some work to do, what would you do?
56.3% of the people said that they would finish their work, on the other hand 39.6% of the people said that they would visit her cousin and the other 4.2% said that they wouldn’t know what to do.
The fourth question: Do you like working in groups or individually? 50% of the people said that they like to work individually, 31.3% prefer to work in groups and the other 18.8% don’t have a preference.
The fifth question: Do you mind sharing a room with a roommate? 56.3% of the people said that they don’t like to share a room with a roommate becau they need more privacy, 29.2% said that they don’t have a preference and the other 14.6% said that they wouldn’t mind share a room with a roommate becau that way is cheaper.
The sixth question: Who are you clost to, your parents or to your whole family?
72.9% said that they are clost to their parents, the 25% said that they are clost to their whole family and the other 2.1% said that they don’t know.
The venth question: When you’re going to make a decision, what is more important to you, your benefit or the benefit of others?
54.2% of the people said that the most important thing for them is their benefit, 35.4% said that the most important thing for them is the benefit of other and the other 10.4% didn’t want to say.
The eighth question: When you work in groups and make a mistake, do you feel guilty or ashamed?
43.8% said that they feel guilty and also 43.8% said that the feel ashamed meanwhile the other 12.5% said that they feel nothing.
Discussion
