An interpersonal communications assignment done on the Malay community in Malaysia.

1. Individualism and Collectivism in
the Malay Community

2. Introduction
Culture
Individualism:
emphasizes
individuality
and
responsibility
to oneself
Collectivism:
Emphasizes on
loyalty than on
the needs of
the individual
Malay
Culture

3. METHODOLOGY
Qualitative
Method
Distributed 15 sets of
survey through
Google Document
Respondents from states
across Malaysia (Johor,
Negeri Sembilan and
Selangor)
12 questions
were asked in the
survey
Methods used :
Descriptive Analysis
and Triangulation
Method
Triangulation method
includes observing our
respondents, distributing
the survey and coming
out with an outcome
Outcome of the observation is to come up
with a conclusion to determine whether
the Malay Culture is more of an
Individualistic society or a Collectivistic
society.

4. 1. Do you know the meaning of
collectivism and individualism?
• Does not imply that our respondent
did not apply it
• Communication is unavoidable
2. Do you believe in teamwork or the
responsibility of oneself for one’s
success?
• Malaysians practice collectivism in
life for years.
Teamwork
, 60.00%
Responsibilty of
oneself, 40.00%
Yes,
46.70%
No,
53.30%

5. 3. Do you just go with the flow of the plan
set by others to avoid any problems?
• 73.3% of Malaysian Malay will like to go
with the flow of the plan set by others
to avoid any problem. However, only
26.7% do not like to go out with the
flow.
• People who are high uncertainty
avoidance tend to be favour rules and
have a low tolerance for ambiguity in
most day-to-day situations.
• The study of national cultures using
survey responses by Hofstede (2010)
resulted people who have high
uncertainty avoidance mostly are from
collectivistic society.
4. Based on the scale below, how strong
is your sense of ‘I’?
• 80% of Malays rated average to having
a strong sense of ‘I’
• Being confident on what should they
do in a certain situation.
• Capable to cope with difficulties.
0 0
12
2
1
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
1 2 3 4 5

6. 5. How open are you to accepting conflict
and open discussions?
• 40% of the respondents said that they
are sometimes capable of accepting
conflict while there are 40% and 13.3%
of the respondents that is open and
very open to accepting conflicts
respectively
• They are strong enough to hear what
the other party has to say
• To avoid conflict, they do have open
discussions
• People tend to feel way better when
they say what is on their mind instead
of keeping it to themselves
• One should always lay out the facts and
tell the other party on what to change
and how it will be beneficial to them in
the future to avoid any conflicts in the
future
6. Do you consider yourself a competitive
person?
• The probability of individualistic
societies entering competition higher
than a collectivistic.
• Majority of respondents are male, with
higher hormone testosterone levels by
nature are highly competitive than
others and females that have lower
level of testosterone.
Yes,
53.30%
No,
46.70%

7. 7. How good are you in handling
confrontations?
• 60% of the respondents have a neutral
answer
• Answer might include the consideration
of seriousness of the confrontations
• 20% and 6.7% of the respondents
agreed that they are good and very
good respectively
• They have good communication skills to
be able to accept opinions from the
others
• 6.7% of respondents selected bad and
very bad
• Unaware about the importance of
communicating face to face
8. Do you consider yourself a person that
listens and reflects on your action?
• 86.7% of the respondents considers
themselves a person that listens and
reflects on their action while 13.3% of
the respondents does not consider
themselves as a person that listens and
reflects on their action
• Would want to avoid any
misunderstanding within the culture
• It clearly shows that most of the
respondents are more of a
collectivistic society compared to an
individualistic society
• They do believe that if someone were
to reflect on their action as it helps
develop their skill as well as to review
their flaws
• Reflecting on action also helps in
protecting the emotions

8. 9. How much do you agree on the
power of freedom?
• 53.3% of the respondents agree and
26.7% strongly agree on the power
of freedom respectively
• They wouldn’t change their beliefs
based on other people’s point of
view
• Going against another person’s point
of view and challenging it is a good
way for the culture to move forward
• People who belief in the power of
freedom is often wanting to voice
out their opinions.
10. Do you look for measurable
results since people define themselves
in terms of what they accomplish?
• People will label us through their
perception towards us on what we
did or said.
• It is one of the evidence to certify
the statement.
Yes,
66.70%
No,
33.30%

9. 11. Do you often seek consensus from others
to preserve harmony?
• 73.3% of the respondents agreed
• Conflicts might happen in a group due to
different opinion and suggestions that are
given
• 26.7% respondents did not agree
• They tend to focus on their own benefits
12. Does the individualism and collectivism
culture affect the relationship within the
Malay culture? Why?
• All the respondents agree about some of
the aspect of individualism and
collectivism culture will affect the
relationship within the Malay culture.
• Collectivistic society, as a royalty culture
can foster strong relationships, where
everyone takes responsibility for fellow
members of their group.
• Individualistic society is lack of teamwork
and trust among others.
• Individualism is not blindly flawed but can
enable individuals to act autonomously
and choose freely with high social
mobility, increase their strong sense of
self-efficacy.
• Collectivism might help preserve
relationships in the community but
individualism might sever relationships,
however it is a good trait if controlled.
Yes,
73.30%
No,
26.70%

10. Conclusion
Qualitative
Method
Malay
culture =
collectivism
Prediction: Malay
culture will have a
strong sense of
collectivism even
with globalization
and westernization