Nigel's Case Study Of A Collectivistic Culture

As babies, we are born into the world with many possibilities that can occur for us and environments that can change us. For every individual that is born on this Earth, not only are we born into families that have varying characteristics, parenting styles, teaching styles, etc., we are born in to various environments and societies that can also shape how we develop as a person through the interactions we have with others and our experiences figuring out our environment. In Nigel’s case, he is an individual that has grown in the South American country in Columbia. Unlike North American countries such as the United States, Nigel grew up in a very collectivistic culture. A collectivistic culture is defined as “cultures in which people are considered …show more content…
Living in Cincinnati, I wanted to live on campus to experience independence away from my current home. Even though I wanted to be independent, I knew that I needed my family to help me out. Just like Nigel, I am family oriented, which means that my family comes first and that I do depend on them. I needed my family for emotional support when I was crying about my grades, money to buy food and laundry detergent, transportation to go to various stores, and actually help pay for my education at Xavier. Even now as a senior, I still depend on my family as a commuter. Because I live about 10 minutes away from Xavier, I depend on my mother for housing, food, and helping with my bills. Even though I grew up in an individualistic country such as America, I also am aware that when I need help, I can depend on a support system in my time of need. Reminiscing over my experience with having a support system, I can sympathize with Nigel not being comfortable of being independent in an individualistic society. Yet, there is more tactics that can be done to have an interactive …show more content…
Even though I am family oriented and I like some aspects of the collectivistic culture, some aspects I would not be able to adapt well with. If my soccer team expected me to depend on them all the time for food, rides, and other resources, I will not be habituated to not reciprocate the act. The reason for this reaction is because I was always taught to return the favor for someone kindness, which also falls a bit into the norm of reciprocity. The norm of reciprocity is when we feel indebted to someone for a favor to us. I f a team mate handed me money for food, the natural response would be “I’ll pay you back.” If they refuse, I would take it as an insult because my gift is not accepted. Due to Nigel becoming habituated of receiving gifts without reciprocation, his American teammates would become annoyed and wonder why he’s not returning the