ABSTRACT
The self-contained individuals in the West have come to know so well and assume to be the only real way to exist in this world, when examined on a worldwide basis, is, in Geertz's terms, peculiar. Both the egocentric-individualistic-exclusive and the sociocentric-collectivistic-inclusive views have a concept of the individual. They differ in the degree to which that individual is significantly seen in terms of in-group relationships. Extremely exclusive conceptions isolate the person from in-group relationships, abstracting some central essence that is contained within the person, regardless of the relationships and memberships they may have. Extremely inclusive conceptions locate the meaning of the person within one or a few central in-group relationships, and thereby tend not to abstract some essential individual essence that exists apart from these relationships. One of the key differences between individualistic self-celebration and collectivistic self-celebration involves the nature of the celebrated self.
