A quick search in Google Scholar for documents containing both keywords “Japan” and “collectivism” revealed 28,100 results. This fact alone is enough to support the notion that collectivism is a commonly reoccurring descriptive in discussions about Japanese society. This is also enough to give serious consideration to the impact of collectivism when thinking about the development of educational programs that foster the development of creativity. More specifically it raises the question: if some people within Japan believe in the collectivist nature of themselves and their society how does that belief influence creative self-identity and creative self–efficacy? Since creativity and innovation require the ability to think divergently, understanding the impact of the alleged pressure towards conformity on creativity should be a top priority. Furthermore, understanding this relationship becomes important when considering methodologies and potential barriers to learning in the creativity classroom or workshop. With this in mind, a questionnaire was given to 50 Japanese participants of various ages and backgrounds. Using open-ended questions and a Likert scale, the questionnaire examines the collectivist self-identity, the collectivist social-identity, creative self-identity, and creative self-efficacy. Through narrative qualitative analysis of the open-ended questions and quantitative analysis of the scaled questions the relationships between the four categories were examined to see if any influenced the others. From this study we can see that the quantitative data and the qualitative data both showed the similar findings. Within the group the majority did not identify as having a collectivist self-identity, the results on collectivist socialidentity were split down the middle, and a majority of the participants did identify with having a creative self-identity. It is also clear from both the qualitative and quantitative data that creative self-identity and creative self-efficacy are linked. It appears that if the person does not believe that he or she is a creative person then that same individual is very likely to believe they do not have the capacity to do creative things.

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Date: May 30, 2011 Program: MIMA – International Marketing Course name: Master Thesis (EFO 705) Title: Consumer behavior towards private label brands: A study of  Thai undergraduate students' experience Method: Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. Quantitative method was used to collect the primary data for this research. Moreover, qualitative method was also used to support the results from questionnaires. Conclusion: The research attempts to examine the different factors that influence consumers' purchasing intentions of private label brands among Thai undergraduate students. Five important factors were identified; there are collectivist culture, perceived risk, price, quality and store loyalty. Collectivist culture and perceived risk were found out to be important background factors which affect the other three factors. Furthermore, the result shows that price and quality of private label brands are highly related as most of the target consumers tend to associate expensiveness with high quality and vice-versa. However, the effect of store loyalty on consumers' (Thai undergraduate students)purchasing intention was found out to be insignificant.

This qualitative research case study explored the indigenous model of conflict resolution known as the “Judiyya,” in the South Darfur State, Sudan. The purpose of the study has been to understand the principles and practices of the Judiyya in maintaining peace among Darfuri tribal communities. Judiyya is a community-based, human-centered model that employs restorative and transformative principles in conflict resolution. The literature review provided context for a research project that addressed the following questions: What is the role of the Judiyya in the current situation? How does the model work? What are its decision-making processes? How does the Judiyya model relate to the International Human Rights Standards? The primary data sources include face-to-face interviews, researcher observations, and a review of document collections and archival records. Research findings explore five emergent themes: Religion or belief system, Elderly leadership, Trust, Effectiveness, and Legitimacy. These explain the model’s process and practices and offer to policymakers some new ideas and perspectives about how to understand and use the indigenous model, which is evaluated for strengths and challenges. The model remains relevant and continues to thrive around the greater Darfur area, helping tribal communities maintain harmony, coexistence, and peace. This research contributes to the emerging literature about the relevance of endogenous knowledge and indigenous models of conflict resolution, and the ongoing efforts to better understand the cultural context of conflict and its reconciliation process.

Thesis (MPhil (General Linguistics))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009.

Probation officers are departing their employment before retirement at a high rate depending on the agency, location, and type of position, which impacts society. The cost associated with training a new officer could consume a large portion of an agency's yearly budget, leaving many inexperienced officers to supervise dangerous offenders and defendants. Thus, it is important to examine factors influencing retention such as whether individualistic and collectivist values predict a relationship between retention intent of probation officers. The purpose of this quantitative research study, guided by Hofstede's cultural theory, was to determine whether family embeddedness influences retention intent of probation officers. Linear regression was used to examine the relationship between the variables. The Sobel test was used to determine if family embeddedness mediated retention-intent. Federal probation and pretrial services officers (n=85) from 5 regions completed online survey questionnaires (Individualistic values scale, Employee Retention scale, Global Measure of Job Embeddedness, and Auckland Individualism and Collectivistic Scale). The results showed that family embeddedness is not a mediator for probation officers that possessed individualistic or collectivistic values. The social change implication of this study includes a recommendation for the development of an employee screening instrument that identifies employees' values to increase retention of probation officers, which can be used to select and train staff.

An examination of the compositional style illustrative of the anti-collectivist ideology as found in Edison Denisov's Quatre Pièces pour flûte et piano. Includes a short history of Denisov's formal training, history of the Soviet musical environment, an overview of his creative output, and discussion of the anti-collectivist characteristics in his works. Defines the anti-collectivist doctrine as individual reaction to the totalitarian collective of the Soviet communist state of the twentieth century. Identification of eclectic compositional techniques, and how they represent individual expression under a totalitarian regime. Listing of Denisov's works with the flute in a primary role, interviews with Aurèle Nicolet and Ekaterina Denisov, correspondence from Denisov to Nicolet, and the manuscript score to Quatre Pièces pour flûte et piano follow as appendices.

Theory of mind (ToM) refers to a cognitive ability that enables one to attribute mental states (such as desires, emotions, beliefs) to self and others. In recent years researchers have identified cultural variations in the onset of ToM understanding in collectivist and individualist cultures. However, the findings of cross-cultural studies regarding these variations are inconsistent. The major aim of this innovative research was to investigate differences in the acquisition of ToM in children from a collectivist culture (Pakistan) and an individualist culture (UK). The second aim of the study was to assess the specific association between ToM and social competence in a culturally diverse sample. An additional aim of the study was to investigate the universality of various correlates of ToM such as executive functioning (EF), parenting styles, and maternal mental state talk. The findings of the studies demonstrated a significant delay in the acquisition of ToM in Pakistani children, when compared with Western children from individualist societies. These findings were corroborated by the results of novel cross-cultural study that compared the performance of White British, British Pakistani, and Pakistani children on a ToM scale. White British children outperformed both Pakistani and British Pakistani children on measures of ToM, EF, and social competence. The current findings also provide support for the association of mental state understanding with EF, social competence, parenting styles, and maternal mental state talk. These findings have important implications for the role of general (collectivist vs. individualist cultures) as well as specific cultural practices (such as parenting and education) in the acquisition of mental state understanding.

This dissertation explores how family and marriage relationships vary according to the culture in which they occur. Based on the individualism/collectivism framework about cultural variations in familial beliefs across countries, I study three topics of family and marriage relationships across cultures. In the first study, I examine how 17 member countries of Organisation of Economic and Co-operation and Development (OECD) differ culturally in older adults' preference for family elder care. I find that older adults from countries with more traditional values that emphasize the importance of a strong parent-child tie are more likely to prefer family care rather than formal care than those from more secular-rational countries with less emphasis on the parent-child tie; the cultural difference gets smaller at a higher level of individual family income. In the second study, I select China as a representative of the collectivist culture, and look into how the collectivist culture and older parents' filial beliefs shape the intergenerational relationship in China. I find that patrilocal and patrilineal traditions are still prevail in China. A highly cohesive intergenerational relationship people idealize in the collectivist culture is more common between older parents and married sons, and least common between older parents and married daughters. In the third study, I compare an individualist society, the U.S., and China, a collectivist society to test whether marriage also isolates people from their informal social network in China as observed in the U.S. I find that marriage does not isolate but integrates people into their informal social network in China, while marriage isolate people in the U.S. The three studies present new evidence on how marriage and family experiences differ due to different cultural beliefs about family, and under what conditions the cultural influences are weakened or reinforced. / Ph. D. / People tend to think and behave according to their individual cultural beliefs and value system and influenced by the cultural environment they live in. Three studies in this dissertation examine how the macro cultural environment and individual beliefs about the family and family relationships influence 1) the preference for family elder care in 17 countries in Europe, North and South America, and East Asia; 2) the intergenerational relationship in China; and 3) the marriage effect on socializing with friends, neighbors, and relatives in the collectivist China and the individualist U.S. In the first study, I find that the preference for family elder care is stonger among older adults from more traditional countries that value family traditions and strong parent-child ties than those from countries with less emphasis on family traditions and the parent-child tie. The cultural influence gets weaker as older adults’ family income increases. In the second study, I find that intergenerational relationship is still very traditional in China. A highly cohesive relationship idealized in the collectivist culture is more common between older parents and their married sons, and least common between older adults and married daughters. In the third study, I find that, compared to the never married and the previously married, married Chinese do not socialize less often with friends, and tend to socialize more often with neighbors and relatives. However, married Americans socialize less often with all these three groups of people in their informal social network than the unmarried. All three studies present new evidence on how marriage and family experiences differ due to different cultural beliefs about family, and how the cultural influence would change according to individuals’ social conditions.

This study arose from the experience of difficulties in individuating incorporating tensions in the self-group, self-other, and self-self relational dimensions. This situation initiated the questions: What does individuation mean in collectivist cultures? Can selfexpression occur in a different way to opposing public opinion? Can one conceptualise experiential dialectics to facilitate their resolution in practice? The literature initiated the questions: How do Western theories on individuation incorporate 'culture'? Does a relationship between the socio-cultural context and the process of self-expression exist? Conclusions were: - that the socio-cultural context influences this experience directly by influencing the process of self-expression via defining what is experienced as narcissistic, altruistic, or individualistic behaviour, and indirectly by the theories which reflect its norms; - that the relationship between experience, and theory and personal epistemologies potentially initiate tensions, and facilitate their resolution; - that a theory of individuation in collectivist cultures is lacking. A way of interpreting 'individuation' was discussed. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)