Cultural Influences On Individuals Paper
The concept of culture and its impact on the self is widely studied and is often a topic of debate. While it is true that culture affects the self, it is also true that the self affects culture to the point of determining it. In this sense, culture does affect the self but there is a limit to this influence based on the environment and the affected person. It is not surprising that people in different locations of the world view themselves in different ways owing to their interactions. Indeed, people are affected by culture in the way they think about the world and community engagement. To a great extent, culture has a large influence on our characters and personalities ad is responsible for who we are. Still, our behavior and reaction to different stimuli is dependent on our culture and the interactions we make in the environment.
The Child Who Walks Backwards is well versed in the topic of culture and how it affects the individual. Indeed, the poem perfectly explores the theme of child abuse through the use of literary devices and unique style of writing. The repetition of certain phrases and words is important in laying out the overall argument about the role of culture in influencing the individual. For instance, the repetition of the phrase “she tells me” is perfectly articulated to communicate the role of the mother in abusing the child. This is achieved through the creation of suspicion in the stanzas and the use of oxymoron sentences to advance the theme of culture. Consequently, the use of opposing sentences is adequate in advancing the general theme of culture and the self and the interactions thereof. Through these styles, the author achieves a remarkable explanation of the concepts of self and culture.Cultural Influences On Individuals Paper
Still, culture and its influence on the self is also the subject of The Pedestrian; a short story by Ray Bradbury. Indeed, the character of mead is used to visualize the cultural context of the place he lives in and understands the differences between him and the other people. The novel thus communicates the theme of self through Mead who has refused to shape up to the cultural influences within the town. In contrast, the entire town and the people around it are affected by its culture and conform to the dictates of that culture. While Mead walks at night to enjoy the cool breeze; everyone else is locked to their television sets leaving the roads empty. In fact, the police unit that apprehends him does not even understand why he could be walking alone at night. Even when Mead states that he is a writer, the occupants of the car do not believe him since people in the town do not buy or read books anymore. In this way, the role of culture in shaping the thinking of the occupants of the car is manifested in the book. Essentially, the theme of culture and its growing influence on the self is perfectly portrayed in this novel through the main character.
Culture is one of the most important factors in influencing the character and personality of human beings. Indeed, it is through culture that people learn what the world expects of them and responds accordingly. Even if culture were not to influence people’s behavior, they would still need a starting point from where they can visualize the world. In Shaping out Identity and Culture, Tash Aw explores the role of culture in shaping how people perceive the world. Accordingly, the first interaction between people is based on how they assume other people to be and their interpretations of these people. The speaker admits to having formed stories about each person he watched without having to talk to them. Further, the talk asserts that culture affects a people’s thinking based on the fact that it is the first point of interaction for humanity. To quote his words; “culture is all I had ever known and it was therefore my point of reference.”Cultural Influences On Individuals Paper
It is no doubt that culture has huge influence on the self and the individual. In fact, culture not only affects our way of doing things but also our thinking and how we perceive things. For instance, our choice of friends could be influenced by our culture including the behavior that we think is right in people. In addition, the fact that our culture is our first point of reference makes it extremely powerful in influencing our societal ideals. Essentially, everything that an individual partakes is dependent on their culture. Culture also affects people’s personalities and characters thus determining their interaction with the outside world. The materials studied in this essay all seem to agree on the fact that culture influences the self. Indeed, our thinking, personality, beliefs, perceptions and character are all shaped by our culture.
In a natural coiffing, children are not born with predetermined set of expectations and values. Most children learn and adopt their behaviors from parents, peers and role models. Personality and traits are shaped by environment and culture. Culture refers to way of living by a certain group; it helps construct people’s beliefs, choices in life and values. More so, culture evaluates the differences in societies and thus forms a vital element in daily living. Despite the technological changes, culture is constantly carried over the next generations thus people have similar principals. Many psychologists have tried to evaluate several theories surrounding the impact of one’s behavior. For instance, Carl Rogers in the personality theory exposes human as having exquisite behaviors (Triandis, 2002). Thus, many people believe that personality is heavily affected by environment and culture.Cultural Influences On Individuals Paper
Personality is a product of culture and environment. Culture is majorly transmitted through modeling of behavior and language as varied conditions permit human to adopt similar historic periods, proximity to influence each other and possessing a shared language. Biological factors do not fully account for variance in behavior. Culture is majorly shaped by ecology which determines socialization patterns are responsible for personality variance (Triandis, 2002). In addition, personality has a direct impact on the socialization among people. For instance, in cultures where parents offer comfort, emotional stability, high self esteem and positivity is usually recognized among the children. When parents are rejecting, their children adopt hostile, unstable and negative views.
Environmental factors also play a great role in lifestyle. Societal influences, on the one hand, align one to living patterns that neighbors have adopted. One would feel strange to act differently in a close-knit village with particular mores of living. Natural factors, one the other hand, like the weather lead to choices of appropriate attire. One would feel out of the context if he or she wears t-shirts in places where it is perpetually wet. On the positive side, environmental factors like pollution enlighten people to adopt sanitary precautions for their homes and cities (Pescitelli, n.d). People always maintain cleanliness at their places so that they can feel one with nature. Rural communities, for example, always cut their hedges frequently to make their homes presentable, refreshing and reputable.
Life style predetermines personality, though many people argue that personality affects choices in one’s life style. Lifestyle is also determined by one’s life experiences which influence vital decisions. According to Triandis (2002) attitude of an individual are shaped from life experiences. People have varied perceptions about life. Thus, these attitudes can establish one’s destiny; failures and success in life ladder. In another study, (Pescitelli, n.d) opines that adults deal with issues more positive as compared to the youngsters. Thus, one’s experience in solving challenges may influence how people handle issues later in life. Young people pose immature defense mechanisms and cope negatively with life experiences. Cultural Influences On Individuals Paper
In conclusion, personality traits emerge during childhood but are influenced by a myriad of factors. Personality traits are derived from both environment and cultural aspects of life. One’s character is shaped majorly by life experience. The unique life experiences which occur for each person help influence the traits which can be transferred from generation to the other. More so, culture and environment determine one’s behavior in unison. People also learn through language acquisition process which involves interaction and sharing of experience. Thus, culture and environment will shape people’s lifestyle over generations.
Culture is the common denominator that makes the actions of the individuals understandable to a particular group. That is, the system of shared values, beliefs, behaviors, and artifacts making up a society’s way of life. Culture can either be represented in a material or non-material form. The definitions and specific traits of each of them are discussed below.
Material culture is a term related to the physical creations made, used, or shared by the members of a certain society. It is society’s buffer against the environment. The components of material culture are all the creations (objects) of the humankind and mind, for example, cars, faucets, computers, trees, and minerals, just to mention but a few.Cultural Influences On Individuals Paper
The transformation of raw material into usable forms through the employment of knowledge is paramount in the achievement of material culture. For example, we make living abodes to shelter ourselves from the adversities of weather and for our own privacy at the basic level. Beyond this, we make, use, and share sophisticated, interesting, and essential items relaying our cultural orientation. For instance, the types of clothes one wears reflect so much into the culture we subscribe to, like school, religion, or where the last vacation was spent.
Non-material culture, on the other hand, is the abstract or unseen creations done by society and fashioned towards the behavioral influence of it. The components of the non-material culture include symbols, languages, values, and norms. For instance, the activities that society takes part in include things like cricket in India, social institutions, such as churches, schools, family, and so forth.
The use of language, the patterns of behavior, beliefs, and values shape the direction of a society over time. Language plays a crucial part when it comes to influence or perception, values guide and teach us what society should be like, while the existing norms form the customs of society.
Language
Language itself is the combination of symbols expressing ideas that enable people to think and communicate with each other, either verbally or nonverbal. Language helps us to provide a description of reality, share experiences, feelings, and knowledge with other people.
The use of language enables people to create visual images, to differ from outsiders, and thus, maintain societal solidarity and boundaries. It also serves as a unique tool in the manipulation of symbols for the expression of abstract concepts and rules and, therefore, creating and transmitting culture between generations.
The aboriginals, for instance, in their use of language confine to their society, describing relationships rather than judging or evaluating. To them, language shapes the reality in perception and experience, indeed fronting the thought of neglecting some aspects of the world traditionally viewed as important. Most of the aboriginal languages do not abhor the use of personal pronouns used to describe gender like he or she, with some amused by the western debate over whether God is a He or a She. For this, the impact that the language has on the world is less intense and reflects the traditional acceptance of a certain region on the world map.Cultural Influences On Individuals Paper
Through preconceived ideas, the language may reinforce perceptions about race and ethnicity in advancing the superiority of a certain group of people of the rest of the world. The diversity of language in some parts of the world shows how it can influence the culture of the societies in this or that country. Canada is an example of the diversities in language today with Aboriginal, French, and English speaking societies living there.
Language maintains cultural heritage and keeps a sense of identity in a culture. It also has the power of a social control booster with perpetuation of inequalities between people or groups of people. The existence of hate in Canadian society is one such scenario causing a lot of suffering in the country. The aboriginals tend to talk about the presence of the English language here and there as a source of power and prestige. They are also mentioning the lack of movies in their language.
Language contributes a great deal to the advancement of both – material and non-material cultures. Material is usually related to the movie business that is, in turn, geared at economical empowering of the culture, while non-material culture is more focused on things like heritage and national identity.
Symbols
In every culture, symbols represent the basis of it and signify a lot of things that are an integral part of this or that society. Basically, a cultural symbol is known as a physical display that demonstrates the ideology of a particular culture, such as religious or ideology beliefs.
A symbol can be an action, object, or word that stands for a certain abstract concept or idea. Some good examples of symbols include colors, figures, sounds, and objects. For instance, people that live in Hawaii have a tradition to perform Lua. The latter is the symbol of their place, as well as heritage that is usually performed through dancing and singing. What is more, symbols are also represented by word interpretations and facial expressions.Cultural Influences On Individuals Paper
It is important to mention that the same symbol can have a completely different meaning to different people or groups of people. For that reason, hypothesizing how this or that culture is going to symbolize something is impossible. The point here is that some of the symbols might be gained from culture, while others are gained from life experience.
Values
Values serve as the other integral part of any society on the globe. They include judgments of what is desirable or undesirable, what is good and what is bad. The values that exist in this or that society shape its norms. For instance, in Japan, the key value is known as group harmony.
As a rule, values are acquired in early childhood years and are usually of a non-rational nature, even though people might believe that the values that exist in their country are pretty rational. All in all, the values that are part of our everyday life are the cornerstones of our cultural orientation. All of the existing cultural values share modern society, as well as influence every person that lives within this or that society. However, the truth is that differences in cultural values between a particular society and people living in one can become the main causes behind the problems like disagreements, wars, culture clashes, and so on. What it comes down to is that it is important to not only understand the importance of the existing cultural values as a whole but also realize how crucial is the role that they all play in the life of a certain community.Cultural Influences On Individuals Paper