Individualism in Germany

Guten tag!  Today  Today we’re we’re going to talk about the individualism in Germany. First of all we’ll give a general denition of individualism and then we’ll talk about Hofstede’s vision on this subject. ndividualism refers to a selforientation" an em#hasis on selfsu$ciency and control" the #ursuit of individual goals that may or may not be consistent with ingrou# goals" a willingness to confront members of the ingrou# to which a #erson belongs" and a culture where #eo#le derive #ride from their own accom#lishments. n an individualistic environment" #eo#le are motivated by selfinterest and achievement of #ersonal goals. They are hesitant to contribute to collective action unless their own e%orts are recogni&ed" #referring instead to benet from the e%orts of others.

 The fundamental fundamental issue addressed addressed by this this dimension is the degree of interdependence a society maintains among its members.  t has to do with whether #eo#le's selfimage is dened in terms of () or (*e). n ndividualist societies #eo#le are su##osed to look after themselves and their direct family only.  The German German society society is a truly individualistic one one with a score of +, #oints on the Hofstede’s scale. -mall families with a focus on the #arentchildren relationshi# rather than aunts and uncles are most common. There is a strong belief in the ideal of selfactuali&ation.

oyalty is based on #ersonal #references for #eo#le as well as a sense of duty and res#onsibility. This is dened by the contract between the em#loyer and the em#loyee. /ommunication is among the most direct in the world following the ideal to be (honest" even if it hurts) 0 and by this giving the counter#art a fair chance to learn from mistakes.

n many res#ects" Germans can be considered the masters of #lanning. This is a culture that #ri&es forward thinking and knowing what they will be doing at a s#ecic time on a s#ecic day. The German thought #rocess is e1tremely thorough" with each as#ect of a #roject being e1amined in great detail. /areful #lanning" in one’s business and #ersonal life" #rovides a sense of security. 2ost as#ects of German living and working are dened and regulated by structure" for e1am#le" through laws" rules" and #rocedures" which are evident in all economic" #olitical and even social s#heres. 3ules and regulations allow #eo#le to know what is e1#ected so that they can #lan their lives accordingly. Germans believe that maintaining clear lines of demarcation between #eo#le" #laces" and things is the surest way to lead a structured and ordered life. n German business culture" this is re4ected in the adherence to #rescribed business rules resulting in" a low degree of 4e1ibility and s#ontaneity in attitudes and values. 5lthough Germans are highly individuali&ed6 they still consider the family as the fundamental im#ortance. For almost 78 #ercent of the #o#ulation the family comes rst in their list of #ersonal #riorities. 2oreover" ,9

#ercent of the young #eo#le are of the o#inion that being ha##y is de#endent on having a family.  To conclude we do have one :uestion for you ; knowing all these as#ects about the german culture do you think you would t in in their society<