Individualist vs. Collectivist?

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I think we have plenty of empathy, but we show it in a manner that's not commonly understood. As an example, is it more empathetic to give a man a fish so he eats for a day or to teach a man to fish so he eats for a lifetime? I think Aspies would be more inclined to teach a man to fish-- it's more logical, and in the long run is more empathetic. Sorry to use such a cliche for an example.

An absence of empathy is one of the defining characteristics of Autism:



As an Autist who, through considerable self-work, has developed empathy, I can say that I had absolutely no empathy until a few years ago. Sympathy - yes. Empathy - no. At this point in my life, I doubt I would even meet the diagnostic threshold for Autism.

I am primarily an Autist these days because Autism can be diagnosed based on personal history.

individualism=31 high
collectivism=23 moderate

I didn't like the way the questions were phrased.

Individualism- 31 (High)
Collectivism- 27 (Moderate)

[quote= animalcrackers] Individuals influence and create groups, and the groups in turn shape and influence individuals. The group as an entity depends on its individual members for survivial, and each individual member depends on the group for their survival as an individual. [/quote]

I agree with this wholeheartedly.

Individualism 37
Collectivism 16.

But I am also a Texan, and as a whole Texans are very individualistic.

39 Individualist / 15 Collectivist

I live in a "collectivist." Chaos, indifference, lack of privacy, lack of respect for common tools and territorial conflicts pinpoint the experience. Community is conformity. The dichotomy of freedom to or freedom from plays out on the molecular level every minute of every day, and it's fatiguing. There's a reason the U.S.S.R. sank like a stone.

I've actually thought a lot about this concept in my Social Psych course, where there was a whole unit on Western vs Eastern views. I find it so fascinating how the Western world is more individualistic and Eastern nations are more collective, and how this difference relates to the values of each group of countries.

As for people on the spectrum: they can be a little of both, but I would hypothesise that it all depends on what they value most. In particular, I would specifically look at whether a given person is highly idenified with having AS and seeks out others with it (collectivist) or if they define themselves by a special interest group (collectivist) or if they are defined more by interests that are theirs alone (individualist).

Personal scores:

Individualism: Moderate: 28
Collectivism: High: 32

Individualist: 39/40 (high)
Collectivist: 12/40 (low)

That's sort of shocking to me, since I do believe, very deeply, in an ideological socialist society.

Individualism: 36
Collectivism: 17

No surprises there. I think this is different from empathy. Yes, empathy is part of, but I believe you can be empathetic and yet independent.

32/26

I believe we are intrinsically a group species--all our primate relatives are and our individual survival is almost always based on the support of our group. Within that reality, however, our individual personalities and approaches to life are the most important features of our selves and our primary value to our groups.

What is a CV?
An application to join a group.
What are the representatives of the group interested in learning form a CV?
Our individual strengths and abilities.

Individualism 38
Collectivism 19

I believe in letting everybody do their own thing as long as they don't harm others. I will voluntarily help people when and if I can but I don't believe in socialism at all.

Ditto, but strongly individualistic views are common on Autistic forums.

Individualism - 35 - High

Collectivism - 10 - Low

Me too... I first learned about this stuff in high school and have often applied this concept to social groups ever since. After my humanities course, I've realized that the disability community is more on the individualist side in general just because it precludes valuing diversity. I think there's also some truth to what has been said in this thread about people with autism naturally placing less importance on fitting in, therefore being more individualistic.

Since about 30% of people from collectivist cultures are not actually collectivist and vice versa, and drawing upon the results of this poll, it would be interesting to see how many people on the spectrum strictly from a collectivist culture would self-identify as individualistic. I'm slightly more collectivist likely because I've been raised in a collectivist, more traditional family, where contribution to the society has been valued over individual traits/accomplishments. That's probably why I hate being special, drawing excessive attention to myself, etc.

Most unshocking result yet.

People who don't fit into groups are not very likely to support them.