Alternative Views of People as Independent or Interdependent A person’s identity for an individualistic society tends to be based mainly on one’s personal experiences—accomplishments, challenges, career, relationships with other people, etc. were as a person’s identity in a collectivistic society tends to be based on one’s roles and experiences within the group context for instance people from traditional Pacific Island cultures have been described as developing “shared identities” as the result of “sharing food, water, land, spirits, knowledge, work, and social activities