ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the causes of in-group individualism/collectivism. Individual and societal wealth tends to be the predominant drivers, but societal histories and religions also are significant. Geert Hofstede, for instance, notes that countries such as Sweden and Scotland were individualistic even before they were wealthy. Industrialization has brought greater wealth while at the same breaking the cooperative chain of the workplace, and consequently, the period of industrialization have been accompanied by greater individualism. The individualism of the West is apparent in some respects in the funky dress styles of Tokyo youth, the artsy culture of Seoul, and the pursuit of material wealth in Singapore. Individualists view themselves as distinct from the organization. Praise for good work, so sought after by many individualists, may in fact embarrass the collectivist. Employer-employee relationships in the societies are often less transactional than in the world of many universalists, individualists, and egalitarians.
