Unit 3: Social, Cultural, Religious & Ethical Attributes Social Structure

Unit 3: Social, Cultural, Religious & Ethical Attributes

Social Structure

Social structure refers to the basic social organization: (1) individualism vs. collectivism & (2) division of the society into classes and castes.

Individualism vs. Collectivism

Society consists of individuals who contribute to its political and economical development. There are advantages and disadvantages of human activities within the community. The positive aspect of individual performance is entrepreneurship. As a result, new products and services of high quality are created and become more and more affordable for the majority of population. The negative aspect of personality is selfishness. People look for power, prestige and money. Furthermore, it may become difficult to accomplish collective tasks, as well solve conflicts. Individualism is spread in Western societies and USA.

Group is an association of two or more individuals who share similar characteristics and interact with each other according to expectations about each other’s behavior, i.e. family groups, work groups & interest groups. The positive aspect of collectivism is that it motivates individuals to work together towards common goal. The negative aspect of collectivism is lack of competition that leads to slower economic and technological development of the society. A bright example of collectivism ideology is Japanese society: the Japanese are engaged in lifelong employment for one company.