The subjective culture studies of Harry C Triandis

Triandis and the Theory of Subjective Culture

In spite of the importance of individualism in understanding the way that people relate to one another and to the world around them, Harry C. Triandis makes the overarching argument in his work that this individualism is one point on a spectrum of individual behaviors, with collectivism falling at the opposite end of said spectrum. The degree to which either of these dynamics is dominant in the individual will typically be a function of the society and culture within which the individual has developed or in which he or she persists. Indeed, throughout the course of his writing and research, Triandis has gone to lengths to argue that the degree to which one is able to appeal to a sense of individualism and the extent to which one is able to differentiate a private self from a public self will both be significantly impacted by the complexity, philosophical orientation and even the political culture of the contextualizing society. As the discussion hereafter will show, the model by Triandis establishes a framework which argues that individual behaviors will be highly impacted by the time and place in which they are committed.

Theoretical Framework:

Indeed, Triandis' model of subjective culture suggests that specific societies will produce specific reactive tendencies in groups and individual members. In other words, behavior will be highly influenced by the realities, patterns, social organization and other features distinct to the society in question. This idea of subjective culture denotes that there is a 'characteristic way' in which a society perceives its social environment. In other words, "it consists of ideas about what has worked in the past and thus is worth transmitting to future generations. Language and economic, educational, political, legal, philosophical and religious systems are important elements of culture. Ideas about aesthetics, and how should people live with others are also important elements. Most important are unstated assumptions, standard operating procedures, and habits of sampling information from the environment." (Triandis2, 1)

Theoretical Principles:

This ideology is supported by the notion that certain proclivities toward individualism or collectivism of behavior will be instigated by the nature of the social culture itself more so than individual human dispositions. At the base of this idea, Triandis contends, is the assertion that individualism is facilitated in societies where culture tends toward greater complexity, where is tends to be more fully developed and where culture is driven more according to a diffusion of individual actions rather than according to vertical hierarchies of authority. A primary theoretical principle of this dynamic between individuals, the collective and the general culture is that of the 'self.' This is a concept which helps to drive Traindis' theoretical model and which argues that there are multiple selves which are used in variant combinations with one another. This denotes that the individual is not necessarily defined by society, but that the measure of behaviors committed by the individual may indeed by highly bound to that society. Accordingly, Triandis argues that there are multiple aspects of the 'self' which tend to be employed in relative balance with one another according to that which is demanded by the nature of the specific culture.

For Triandis, there is a private self, a public self and a collective self. The manner in which we conduct ourselves is comprised of the balance between these. The subjective cultural outlook denotes that the balance is a function of society and its attendant demands. For instance, Triandis (1989) notes, " on this point, Triandis indicates that "the more complex the culture, the more frequent the sampling of the public and private self and the less frequent the sampling of the collective self. The more individualistic the culture, the more frequent the sampling of the private self and the less frequent the sampling of the collective self." (Triandis, p. 506)

Two Empirical Studies:

Triandis casts this theoretical model into his own empirical study, investigating what he refers to as three cultural dimensions as they are impacted by subjective cultural impetuses. Here, Triandis evaluates the consequences of socialization through environment, child-rearing patterns and cultural patterns through the dimensions of individualism-collectivism, tightness-looseness and cultural complexity. (p. 506) These comprise what Triandis argues are the main effectors of individual behavior, such that we may be able to predict tendencies in child rearing, for example, based on where a specific culture falls on the spectrum between individualism and collectivism or tightness and looseness. The 1989 study by Triandis would investigate the links between these consequences and the nature of 'sampling' of aspects of the self engaged by individuals and groups within the selected culture.

Another empirical study on the subject, by Lee (2000), would specify the Triandis model to modern consumer culture. This would serve as a concrete context for a study intended upon understanding individual and collective behaviors as impacted by a specific cultural time and place. The Lee study takes on a particularly complex element of the Triandis theory though, given the nature of globalization today. Here, the sweeping impact of a supposed global economy and global community is calling into question the persistence of certain subjective cultural distinctions. The Lee article essentially makes the case that some level of understanding of cultural differences as a function of subjective cultural sampling among individuals is necessary to accommodate the ambitions of a global market. According, Lee argues that "it is the social processes that vary from culture to culture and require the adaptation of marketing technology. It follows that the investigation of important cultural dimensions and their effect on consumer behavior should precede decisions on the standardization of marketing programs. " (p. 117) This denotes that Triandis contributes a valuable watchword to those expanding into a global economy, that marketing must respect behavioral variances as they relate to such cultural dimensions as individualism v. collectivism.