Collectivist societies tend to focus on the community. Of course, people still value the wellbeing of themselves and their families, but they include others around them as well.
People in collectivistic cultures place value on unity, social harmony, and conformity. An individual may belong to fewer groups, but they are more committed to them. They are also less likely to express their emotions out of concern for others’ feelings and what is most appropriate for the situation. They strive to benefit the group.
Collectivism most likely “evolved” first, developing in early societies and their way of life, which could be due to the necessity of working together to survive difficult times; living in a group was more beneficial for humans than living alone.
For thousands of years, many eastern, southern, and southeast Asian countries, along with African and South American countries, exhibited collectivist cultures, though the term would be unnamed for a long length of time.
There was a particularly strong basis of collectivism in China, which was geographically locked from other lands either by mountains, rivers, dense forests, deserts, or the ocean. This, along with natural disasters, encouraged cooperation. Their economy was largely dependent on agriculture, and it involved a large amount of collaboration to cultivate, harvest, and maintain. Today, collectivism remains deeply rooted in Chinese culture, though that may change over time as the country industrializes further.
Centuries after its development, collectivism became a recognized concept in the 18th century, around the same time that individualism was emerging. However, the majority of the world’s societies were collectivist. In the 20th century, both concepts were defined scientifically.