Competitive Attitudes w/ Collectivistic and Individualistic

Sporatical_Distractions · Post by **Sporatical_Distractions** » 11 Dec 2007 08:56

Some people wanted me to post this.

It's a hypothetical research paper on 'Competitive Attitudes with Collectivistic and Individualistic cultures'.

The hypothesis is that those born and raised in an Individualistic culture will be more competitive in an individual-oriented game while those from a Collectivistic culture will be more competitive in a group-oriented game.

Not my best paper, but it's interesting nonetheless. The Discussion section kind of sucks because I'm burnt out from finals and stopped caring.

Modified.in threw off the margins.

Here's the paper. Enjoy.

Abstract
This study is an analysis of the effects of being raised in either an individualistic or a collectivistic society on competitive attitudes. The hypothesis posits that those raised in an individualistic society are more competitive in an individual setting and those raised in a collectivistic society are more competitive in a group setting. One hundred subjects (50 born and raised in an individualistic culture and 50 born and raised in a collectivistic culture), ages 15-40, that have never lived in the opposite culture, will be rated on a competitiveness subscale. They will then play a team-game and an individualized-game for a monetary reward, and rate which game they preferred. Mean scores will be analyzed in a chi-squared test.

The Effects of Culture on Competitive Attitudes
Culture holds a strong influence on personality. Culture provides one with ready-made ways of approaching their lives through socially transmitted expectations and knowledge (Friedman & Schustack, 283). Often these expectations and knowledge are learned through families, friends, neighbors, communities, and societies. For instance, all people have a biological sex drive, yet culture and religion can influence people to refrain from premarital sex, to avoid adulterous relations during marriage, and even to refrain from sexual activity completely. Although individual differences occur within a society, people are shaped by their cultures and subcultures and, in many ways, are like those in the same culture or subculture but different from those in other cultures (Friedman & Schustack, 283).
According to Friedman & Schustack, â€œA key dimension of cultural effects on personality involves the centrality of the autonomous individual versus the centrality of the collectiveâ€

Sporatical_Distractions · Post by **Sporatical_Distractions** » 11 Dec 2007 09:03

Damnit, forgot one single comma

Bringerofpie · Post by **Bringerofpie** » 11 Dec 2007 13:16

I'm gonna be honest, I don't have the patience to read that, but that hypothesis seems to, basically, be about nature vs. nurture.

Sporatical_Distractions · Post by **Sporatical_Distractions** » 11 Dec 2007 14:06

Close. It looks solely at the nurture aspect.

Found some more errors, luckily they were fixed by the time it was turned in

Post by **Zac Miley** » 11 Dec 2007 15:02

Awesome.

Thanks for posting Kevin.

A study like this one in a group of footbaggers would be interesting. I would bet that most footbaggers are individualistic. I would automatically pick ping-pong over soccer though, just because I hate soccer and love ping pong.

Sporatical_Distractions · Post by **Sporatical_Distractions** » 12 Dec 2007 06:39

Is that because you were raised in an individualistic country? lol

In my presentation, I told them that if I was to carry out this experiment, that I would gather all 100 subjects from the World Footbag Championships

Singles freestyle footbag is very individual, but what about doubles freestyle? The goal is not one of individual gains, but one of cooperation.

Frank_Sinatra · Post by **Frank_Sinatra** » 12 Dec 2007 08:26

I'm going to read this when I get the chance - sounds very interesting. And then I'm gonna peer review your ass into the ground!

Post by **Zac Miley** » 12 Dec 2007 15:46

Sporatical_Distractions wrote:Is that because you were raised in an individualistic country? lol

Could be.

I love doubles ping pong though, too.

The doubles freestyle one is an interesting point. It seems pretty unpopular among footbaggers today, so I would guess that supports your hypothesis.