Question

describe fully what you understand is the meanings of these statements about the impact of culture on our individual perceptions, values, and behaviors:

Answer 1

Loosely defined, culture refers to the shared values, beliefs and norms of a specific group of people. Culture, therefore, influences the manner we learn, live and behave. Because of this, many theorists believe that culture is an important shaper of our personality. One of the general assumptions asserting the effect of culture to personality is that people who are born and bred in the same culture share common personality traits.

Evolution and genetics are believed to have brought about differences in personality traits as determined by the biological sex of a person. As explained by the Theory of Sexual Selection, males compete to attract females, so men are more likely to be aggressive and competitive than women. However, nowadays we may see that more and more women become aggressive in competing against other women for a man.

Our culture greatly contributes to the development of our beliefs and values. For this reason, both cultural psychologists and social anthropologists believe that culture affects one's personality. In addition, gender differences also influence the personality traits a person possesses.

Group action, meaning working with other people, is the dominant factor in society. In business, some individuals may be individual proprietors (running their own single employee business), but they still have to sell products or services to other people. An individual can be single in terms of relationship, but there are many areas in that person's life where they are part of a group.

One membership that all people share is that of culture. Culture may be ascribed to national boundaries, but it doesn't need to be. Cultural membership is better explained as people who share common features and knowledge that are demonstrated in elements such as artistic accomplishments, language, religion, food, and social characteristics. Culture then plays a critical role in how people see the world. This is called cultural perception.

Culture as an influence of behaviour takes the “nurture" side of the argument about influences of behaviour. culture looks at the totality of any given society's belief system, laws, mores, practices, language and attitudinal variables which makes a people unique from others. As you know, it is transmitted from one generation to the other. What happened when you are groomed in the ways of a particular culture?

You start acting and behaving in ways that are seen as appropriate to such a culture. Your dress sense, grooming, language, belief system and attitude become molded to fit into that society which makes you become accepted by them.

Hence, culture plays a big role in determining how an individual behaves in any given environment. Take for example, in some places, baring the breasts is seen as normal, while in some places it is forbidden. Some places allow males and females to mingle freely in public places: others do not. This has a tremendous impact on behaviour, and is evident when these persons go to a place that has a different culture compared to theirs. They encounter what is known as “culture shock", and it is most evident from their reactions and behaviours to certain unique stimuli which they come in contact with in a new place.

In a country, with time, the political landscape changes, and people with diverse beliefs and motivations have the power to motivate and change the thinking of a majority of the country's people, this leadership belief and motivation affects the culture for the good or the bad. People learn new habits, some strange behaviors become new normal, and bizarre changes are defined.

Throughout time, these leadership changes shape the culture, good leadership induces and motivates everyone around them to achieve good habits and deliver their best honestly, affecting the behavior of nearly everyone in the country.

It is also true vice versa, a bad leadership that has selfish motivation badly affects culture and encourages everyone to act selfishly and selfishness creates a bad culture, in such culture self-interest defines normal behavior and not social values.