Collectivism in Nordics and Asian Compared

How do Nordic and Asian culture around individualism and common good differ?

Nordic societies are famous for social democracy, which is a social and economic model where the government takes an active role in ensuring the health and wellbeing of all citizens. In a corporate setting or in sports, the group is often emphasized over the individual; what did we achieve together rather than what did I achieve. It is a stark contrast to American rugged individualism, which much more strongly emphasize the achievements of the individual and where individual choice and freedom matters more than the well-being of everybody else.

Perhaps one of the best summaries of the Nordic ethos is given in the quote:

Nobody gets cake until everybody has had bread

– Einar Gerhardsen, Norwegian prime minister 1962

The emphasis on the collective well-being can seem similar to Asian culture, which is far more group oriented and less individualistic. An interesting experiment which showed this difference in a stark manner is the Michigan Fish Test carried out by Richard Nisbett and Takahiko Masuda in 2001 to compare American and Asian cultural differences. Nisbett presented subjects…