You bring up a very interesting angle, and it's always fascinating to me at least to see how our different cultural backgrounds influence our workplace behaviors.
Coming from a more collectivist culture myself (born and raised in Romania), I don't see that being linked to how opinionated people are, at least not in my country. Just wanted to put that out there as a data point. What I'm saying is that I don't disagree that cultural background can influence how opinionated you are, but I question whether collectivist vs individualist is the explanation vs just specific cultural norms.
Hey Irina, I appreciate you sharing your insights and thoughts with me! I completely agree that having an opinionated personality is something that just comes naturally to us, regardless of whether we grew up in an individualistic or collectivist culture.
The difference is how open and public you are willing to voice your opinion. The individualistic culture encourages self-expression and the value of personal meaning and importance. On the other hand, collectivist culture is willing to share thoughts and opinions in a more closed setting.
I remember studying abroad in Sweden for six months taking history classes. It was a class that was created for international students. I saw a lot of other students from other nations, including some of my American friends. When a teacher explains certain concepts and asks if anyone has any questions after describing a certain incident, students who raise their hands and express their thoughts mostly come from the United States, Australia, and the UK. Some students even disagreed with the professor on how the professor perceived certain historical events and initiated an argument.
Every individual has an opinion, and since individualistic culture values people who have strong self-expression and rewards them, people who live in the environment will tend to express their opinion in public.
You bring up a very interesting angle, and it's always fascinating to me at least to see how our different cultural backgrounds influence our workplace behaviors.
Coming from a more collectivist culture myself (born and raised in Romania), I don't see that being linked to how opinionated people are, at least not in my country. Just wanted to put that out there as a data point. What I'm saying is that I don't disagree that cultural background can influence how opinionated you are, but I question whether collectivist vs individualist is the explanation vs just specific cultural norms.
Hey Irina, I appreciate you sharing your insights and thoughts with me! I completely agree that having an opinionated personality is something that just comes naturally to us, regardless of whether we grew up in an individualistic or collectivist culture.
The difference is how open and public you are willing to voice your opinion. The individualistic culture encourages self-expression and the value of personal meaning and importance. On the other hand, collectivist culture is willing to share thoughts and opinions in a more closed setting.
I remember studying abroad in Sweden for six months taking history classes. It was a class that was created for international students. I saw a lot of other students from other nations, including some of my American friends. When a teacher explains certain concepts and asks if anyone has any questions after describing a certain incident, students who raise their hands and express their thoughts mostly come from the United States, Australia, and the UK. Some students even disagreed with the professor on how the professor perceived certain historical events and initiated an argument.
Every individual has an opinion, and since individualistic culture values people who have strong self-expression and rewards them, people who live in the environment will tend to express their opinion in public.