Individualism and Collectivism

 A daimyo is executed unjustly for an act he did not commit.  Forty-seven of his most loyal followers hunt down the man who caused this act, leaving their wives and families, their lives and their positions, to kill him.  And then they all bring themselves to the capital to present themselves and commit seppuku, taking their lives as a consequence for what they have done.

The Forty-Seven Ronin is a classic Japanese story.  But nothing similar happens in western European literature, even with the most devoted followers.  How does a Western game designer create a game system that encourages, or even just allows, such stories to be run in the system?  The honor mechanic is an, albeit clumsy, way to try to encourage such story telling, but the challenge is deeper than that.  To tell a Japanese story in an English RPG, you end up stumbling across the difference between Collectivist and Individualistic values.  So this week, I'm going to start there. (Don't worry....I'll get back to honor. I just realized after some events this week, I needed to start "further back".)

Before you start researching this topic on your own, I need to make a very BIG warning.  If you come from a Western society, make sure that you use only sources from a collectivist society...either Asian, African, or certain areas of South America such as Mexico.  This topic has been addressed extensively in anthropology...and then it was grabbed, twisted, and made as racist as s*** in some places.  Stay away from that.  The sources I provide here are not, but the internet is an ugly place.  I'm sorry.

Each person is uniquely made up of a group of traits and virtues that define them.  These traits are valued differently, however, by the society in which they live.  One society might value strength, for example, while another might value a slender build and manual dexterity. In a strength-favoring society, children would be taught to play games of strength, while another society might encourage playing games requiring fine motor control. Each child has similar access to all the human virtues and gifts independent of race or creed or where they are born, but the societies in which they live teach them to value  and train in virtues differently.   Intellectual and social traits similarly are prized differently by different societies. 

One area where societies differ in their values is whether that society is considered individualist or collectivist. 

(Note: I'm taking a lot of this information from Individualism and Collectivism by Dharm P. S. Bhawuk, University of Hawaii because it's a good paper, but you can find it in plenty of anthropology and sociology textbooks.)

Individualist cultures value personal independence.  Members are taught to see themselves as separate from others, with each person responsible for themselves and their own decisions.  Who they are is defined by how they feel or perceive themselves on the inside, and they are encouraged to ignore what others perceive of them.  Individualistic societies value freedom, non-conformity, choice, ambition,  and fairness.    Relationships and trade are considered to be reciprocal and for the fulfillment of the self.  Communication is direct and being blunt and precise (and clear) is valued, with less regard to the feelings of the other.  Strangers and family should be met equitably and fairly, but neither strangers or family or anyone else should be able to control the actions of an individual.

Collectivist cultures value personal interdependence.  Members are taught to see themselves as parts of a larger social group, defined by their performance and characteristics as they stand within their web of relationships.  Who they are is relative to their social context, and they are encouraged to always be aware of how others perceive them.  Collectivist societies  value sharing,  empathy,  cooperation,  duty, and conformity.  Relationships and trade are considered to be mutual for the good of the whole, rather than the fulfillment of the self. Communication is indirect, and sensitivity is valued.  Strangers are often met with hostility and kept out of the inner sphere of relationships, but once accepted into the sphere, they are valued much more as part of the collective self than in an individualist society.

No culture is purely individualist or purely collectivist.   However,  in general, Europe and North America are considered to be more individualist, while Asian and African cultures tend to be more collectivist.  These two sets of traits are also not considered opposites.  They are instead areas of emphasis that can be considered more complementary than anything.  

A person's own acceptance of Individualism or Collectivism is not determined by their race or their society.  Indeed, this is a set of psychological traits that can be 'primed' by setting up specific kinds of social situations and contexts.  And neither kind of culture is superior at problem solving.  Generally it has been found that groups are most successful at problem solving when individualism and collectivism produce synergistic effects: people primed to accept the group values as paramount while ensuring that each person is primed to represent themselves individually.  

What a society values, however, is going to 'prime' members into the ways of thinking and acting that most conform with the values of that society.  The myths and stories and lessons and advancement within that society is going to be based on the values of the society, and so people who conform to those values will advance in that society the most.

So...the point of all this.

The United States is considered to be an Individualist society.  It is also considered to be a rural society, with most of our 'mythmaking' about who 'real `Mericans' are' coming from a rural archetype.  It is also  considered to be a nomadic society, where people are not innately tied to a specific of area of land and are free and encouraged to travel to seek the best circumstances for themselves.

Rokugan, alternatively, is created to be a collectivist society. It is an urban society, with much of mythmaking and storytelling about an urban/court elite.  And it is considered to be a settled society, where people are commonly tied to a specific area of land and do not travel broadly beyond those lands.

The challenge of the GM is to try to make the sort of the stories that can cross that great divide and see what is on the other side.