Cultural dimensions refer how the values of a society affect behavior, which is the trend of

behavior in a given culture. The concept of cultural dimensions was developed by Hofstede and
he has identified five cultural dimensions, but this essay will focus on individualism vs.
collectivism, which is the degree to which people are integrated into groups. He also argues that
understanding cultural dimensions will help facilitate communication between cultures.

An individualistic culture focuses on the uniqueness, achievement and personal choice of the
individual, the ties between individuals are then loose. In a collectivistic culture, the relationship
with the group is more important than the personal goals of the individual, the ties between
individuals are then strong.  Collectivistic cultures value social harmony and stress
interdependence.  Individualistic cultures also value privacy and expressing one’s own opinion.

The study aims to investigate whether there is a difference in the degree of conformity between
Temne farmers, which is a collectivistic culture and Inuit hunters, which is an individualistic
culture through quasi-experiment by independent measures design. The participants were
shown a paper with 9 different lines and the line at the top was a standard line. The task was
to identify the line out of the other eight that was equal in length to the standard line. There
were six trials and on the third trial, participants heard Other Temne (or Inuit) seem to think
that it is line C, what do you think?” 

The result shows that the average conformity score was much higher in the Temne sample
compared to Inuit sample. As Temne were much more likely to conform to the incorrect answer
than the Inuits. Meaning the collectivistic culture had a higher rate of conformity than the
individualistic culture. The result then indicates results that the difference between Temne and
Inuit people are due to the different degree of conformity required by the contrasting social and
environmental conditions of their cultures. Which supports Hofstede’s belief that individualism
will affect group member behavior.