Collectivism and individualism as it applies through parenting styles

Parenting styles and expectations for family members in individualist cultures often are different than those in collectivist cultures. If you placed someone from a collectivist culture in an individualist family, the entire family likely would be thrown off balance. The same confusion may occur if someone from an individualist culture were asked to integrate into a collectivist family. The concepts of individualism and collectivism were introduced in Week 1 and are important terms to keep in mind when studying human development and socialization. As a reminder, individualist cultures prioritize concern for self or immediate family. Collectivist cultures are more oriented to the larger community group and emphasize traditions. Both types of cultures have many more characteristics, and any given culture does not necessarily belong exclusively in one category. In this week’s Assignment, you analyze collectivism and individualism as it applies through parenting styles. To prepare for this Assignment: • Review the chapter, “Human Development and Socialization,” in your course text, Cross-Cultural Psychology: Critical Thinking and Contemporary Applications (5th ed.). Pay particular attention to the sections on norms, customs and child care; parental values and expectations; and late adulthood. • Review the concepts of individualism and collectivism from the chapter, “Understanding Cross-Cultural Psychology,” in Cross-Cultural Psychology: Critical Thinking and Contemporary Applications (5th ed.). • Review the media piece. • Imagine that you are watching a new reality television show in which parents trade places and take one another’s role in the family. In the program, parents interact with the grandparents in addition to parenting one another’s children. One family is characterized as coming from a collectivist culture, and the other family is characterized as coming from an individualist culture. Each family has one 1-year-old, one 8-year-old, one 14-year-old, and two grandparents living in the household. To complete this Assignment, submit by Day 7 a 2- to 3-page paper that includes the following: • Explain the differences in parenting style of “collectivist” and “individualist” parents. Describe how each couple would differ in their expectations of each of the children. • In light of the differing styles and expectations, analyze the points of conflict that would arise when the parents were swapped. Be sure to identify how the collectivist parents would respond to the individualist children as well as how the individualist parents would react to the collectivist children. • Compare the grandparents’ role in the collectivist family to the grandparents’ role in the individualist family. Identify the conflicts that these roles would cause when the parents were swapped. Then speculate about how the “new” mother and father may wish to change the existing roles? • Offer your conclusion about how you anticipate the show will end. Will any of the family members adjust their beliefs or behaviors? Support your Assignment with specific references to all resources used in its preparation.