For judgements of value about collectivism and individualism, see individualism and collectivism. This article regards how 'collectivist' and 'individualist' are used descriptively in anthropology and cultural psychology.

Cultures are typically divided into two categories: collectivist and individualist. Individualist cultures, such as those of the United States and Western Europe, emphasize personal achievement at the expense of group goals, resulting in a strong sense of competition. Collectivist cultures, such as those of China, Korea, and Japan, emphasize family and work group goals.

Collectivism and individualism deeply pervade cultures. People simply take their culture's stance for granted. In the U.S., everything from 'self-serve' buffet tables to corporate structure to cowboy movies reflect the deeply ingrained individualism. In Japan, after a professor gave a lecture on individualist culture, the students asked the professor if what he said could 'really be true'.

Both collectivist and individualist cultures have their failings. People in individualist cultures are susceptible to loneliness, and people in collectivist cultures can have a strong fear of rejection.

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	Individualist anarchism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (1819 words) Individualist anarchism is a philosophical tradition that opposes collectivism and has a particularly strong emphasis on the supremacy and autonomy of the individual. Individualist anarchism's roots includes Europeans such as William Godwin, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, and Max Stirner (who is also connected to the existentialist philosophy), though the individualist anarchist tradition draws heavily on American independent thinkers, including Josiah Warren, Benjamin Tucker, Lysander Spooner, Ezra Heywood, Stephen Pearl Andrews, and Henry David Thoreau. Individualist anarchism is often seen as a form of liberalism, and hence, has been called "liberal anarchism" [1]. Individualist feminism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (202 words) Individualist feminism is a blanket term for different forms of individualist feminist ideas. The core principle of individualist feminism is that all human beings have a moral and / or legal claim to their own persons and property, not to any sort of affirmative action policies or privileges. Individualist feminism strongly opposes gender feminism, that branch of feminism which holds that class-war exists between genders and often calls for radical measures to intervene in gender relations.
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