Contents
- 1 Does culture affect our personality?
- 2 Personality: Boas and Benedict
- 3 Personality: Margaret Mead
- 4 Sex, Differences and Personality
- 5 Cultural Understandings of Personality
- 6 PERSONALITY IN INDIVIDUALIST AND COLLECTIVIST CULTURES
- 7 APPROACHES TO STUDYING PERSONALITY IN A CULTURAL CONTEXT
- 8 Summary
- 9 Cultural influences on personality
- 10 Similar articles
- 11 Cited by 37articles
- 12 Cognitive Scientist Shows How Culture Shapes Personality Traits
- 13 Cultural Influences on Personality
- 14 Abstract
- 15 Keywords
- 15.1 Researchers found three distinct regional personality clusters in the United States. People tend to be friendly and conventional in the Upper Midwest and Deep South; relaxed, emotionally stable, and creative in the West; and stressed, irritable, and depressed in the Northeast (Rentfrow et al., 2013).
- 15.2 PERSONALITY IN INDIVIDUALIST AND COLLECTIVIST CULTURES
- 15.3 APPROACHES TO STUDYING PERSONALITY IN A CULTURAL CONTEXT
- 15.4 SUMMARY
- 15.5 Exercises
- 15.6 Answers to Exercises
- 16 2.4: Different Cultural Factors Affecting Personality
- 17 Religion as a Cultural Influence
- 18 The Question of Race and Ethnicity as Cultural Influences
- 19 Aging within a Cultural Context
- 20 Addressing the Degree of Cultural Integration
- 21 How Culture Affects Personality – Free Essay Example
- 22 Values
- 23 Religion
- 24 Social class
- 25 Language
Does culture affect our personality?
Culture may be described as the common values, beliefs, and social standards of a certain group of people, albeit this is a broad definition. As a result, culture has an impact on the way we learn, live, and behave. As a result, many scholars feel that culture plays a crucial role in the formation of our personalities. When it comes to the influence of culture on personality, one of the typical beliefs is that persons who are born and raised in the same culture have personality features that are similar to one another.
Personality: Boas and Benedict
The pioneer of Psychological Anthropology, or the study of the link between culture and personality, Franz Boas, asserted that personality is derived from culture rather than biology. His Cultural Relativism hypothesis provides a complete explanation of the fundamental link between culture and personality, and it is widely used today. Ruth Benedict, a student of Boas’, elaborated on the research on the influence of culture on personality by looking at cultural patterns and themes that are prevalent throughout the world.
While writing her book Patterns of Culture, Benedict made reference of her research on the cultural patterns of two separate northern American Indian communities, as well as an Indian group located off the coast of Papua New Guinea.
For example, one tribe’s concept of a “”good guy”” differs from another tribe’s conception of the same.
Personality: Margaret Mead
Margaret Mead was, without a doubt, one of the most influential anthropologists of the twentieth century. As a student of Boas, Mead contributed to the expansion of the school’s knowledge of culture and personality by extending her attention beyond American culture to the whole Western World. In Samoa, she discovered that the cultures there had uniform value systems, and as a result, their personalities are similar to one another. Individuals do not play substantial roles in social life until they reach the age of 15 or 16, at which point they are subjected to marriage rites, according to the culture of the Samoan tribes studied.
Girls are socialized to view boys as their adversaries. It is as a result of this aspect of Samoan culture that children are often either violent in order to get attention or passive in response to a lack of care and love from their parents.
Sex, Differences and Personality
It is claimed that evolution and genetics have resulted in variances in personality qualities that are dictated by a person’s biological sex. According to the Theory of Sexual Selection, males compete with one another in order to attract females, and as a result, men are more aggressive and competitive than women. However, we can observe that more and more women are becoming aggressive in their pursuit of a guy, as seen by the fact that they are competing against other women. Our cultural heritage has made significant contributions to the establishment of our ideas and values.
Furthermore, differences in gender might have an impact on the personality qualities that a person possesses.
Cultural Understandings of Personality
You will be able to do the following by the conclusion of this section:
- Identify and discuss the variations in personality between persons from collectivist and individualist societies. Discuss the three techniques to researching personality in a cultural context that have been developed.
As you have studied throughout this chapter, both hereditary and environmental variables influence one’s personality. When it comes to environmental elements that influence your personality, the culture in which you live is one of the most essential (TriandisSuh, 2002). The term “culture” refers to all of a society’s beliefs, practices, art, and traditions, as well as its way of life. Human culture is passed down to us through language and by seeing and practicing both culturally acceptable and nonacceptable acts that are either rewarded or penalized (TriandisSuh, 2002).
- They want to know if personality traits are the same throughout cultures or if there are differences between them.
- Why could it be vital to take cultural factors into account while analyzing personality?
- The strength of personality traits has been shown to vary among cultures, which is a fact supported by research.
- As you will learn when you study social psychology, Asian cultures are more collectivist than Western cultures, and people from these cultures are less extroverted than those from other cultures.
- According to the findings of this study, there appear to be regional personality variations inside the United States as well as across countries ().
- Cluster 2, which includes the West, is dominated by people who are less affluent but more relaxed, emotionally stable, and creative.
- People who reside in Clusters 2 and 3 are also often more open than those who live in Cluster 1.
- In the United States, researchers discovered three unique regional personality clusters, according to their findings.
- It is possible that isselective migration is one of the reasons for regional disparities (Rentfrow et al., 2013).
- For example, a person who scores highly on the pleasant scale would likely choose to live close to family and friends, and would choose to settle or remain in a neighborhood where they feel comfortable.
On the other hand, someone who values openness might want to live in a community that is known for being diverse and forward-thinking (such as California).
PERSONALITY IN INDIVIDUALIST AND COLLECTIVIST CULTURES
Individualist and collectivist societies lay different emphasis on fundamental principles than one another. People who live in individualist societies are more likely to feel that independence, competitiveness, and personal success are vital qualities to have. Individualism is highly valued by individuals in Western countries such as the United States, England, and Australia, among others (Oyserman, Coon,Kemmelmier, 2002). People who live in collectivist cultures place a high importance on social peace, mutual respect, and the needs of the collective over the needs of the individual.
These values have an impact on one’s personality.
APPROACHES TO STUDYING PERSONALITY IN A CULTURAL CONTEXT
In order to research personality in a cultural context, there are three ways that may be used: the cultural-comparative approach, the indigenous approach, and the combined approach, which contains components of both viewpoints. Because Western notions about personality have their origins in the West, the cultural-comparative method tries to test Western ideas about personality in other cultures in order to discover if they can be generalized and whether they possess cultural validity (Cheung van de Vijver,Leong, 2011).
They discovered application across a wide range of civilizations around the world, with the Big Five features being consistent across a wide range of cultures (McCraeCosta, 1997; McCrae et al., 2005).
The indigenous model has resulted in the development of personality assessment instruments that are based on constructs that are relevant to the culture under investigation, as Western-based personality assessments are unable to fully capture the personality constructs of other cultures in their entirety (Cheung et al., 2011).
Summary
It is one of the most important environmental elements that influences your personality that you live in a culture that is different from your own. It is possible that Western concepts of personality are not relevant to other cultures. The strength of personality traits has been shown to vary among cultures, which is a fact supported by research. Individualist and collectivist societies lay different emphasis on fundamental principles than one another. People who live in individualist societies are more likely to feel that independence, competitiveness, and personal success are vital qualities to have.
A cultural-comparative method, an indigenous approach, and a combination approach, which contains both features of both viewpoints, may all be utilized to research personality in the setting of a cultural context, according to the author.
Self Check Questions
It is one of the most important environmental elements that influences your personality that you live in a culture that is different than your own. It’s possible that Western concepts of personality aren’t appropriate in other cultures. In fact, there is evidence to suggest that the strength of personality characteristics differs from culture to culture as well. Different fundamental values are emphasized in individualist and collectivist cultures, and these differences are reflected in the way they organize their societies.
Social peace, respect, and communal needs are more important to people who live in collectivist societies than they are to individuals.
Answers
1) Given that culture has an impact on a person’s personality, it is possible that Western views about personality are not relevant to persons from other cultures. Furthermore, when Western-based methods of personality evaluation are employed to collect data on persons from different cultures, it is possible that the results will be invalid.
Glossary
a society’s culture is comprised of all of its members’ beliefs, habits, art, and traditions migration on a selected basis People opt to relocate to areas that are compatible with their personalities and requirements, according to this philosophy.
Cultural influences on personality
The environment shapes cultures, and cultures have an impact on the development of individuals. There are features of variety in personality that are universal and aspects that are distinctive to a culture. Some culturally distinctive qualities correspond to cultural syndromes such as complexity, tightness, individuality, and collectivism, while others correspond to universal characteristics. According to a significant body of study, the Big Five personality variables are found in people from all over the world.
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- In this section, you will find an abstract, key words, an introduction, some definitions, dimensions of culture, dimensions of personality, and future directions. In this section, you will find an abstract, key words, an introduction, some definitions, dimensions of culture, dimensions of personality, and future directions. SOLUTION AND CONCLUSION
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- LITERATURE CITED (if applicable)
Abstract
AbstractEcologies impact the development of cultures, and cultures influence the development of individuals. There are features of variety in personality that are universal and aspects that are distinctive to a culture. Some culturally distinctive qualities correspond to cultural syndromes such as complexity, tightness, individuality, and collectivism, while others correspond to universal characteristics. According to a significant body of study, the Big Five personality variables are found in people from all over the world.
Keywords
You should be able to do the following by the conclusion of this section:
- Identify and discuss the variations in personality between persons from collectivist and individualist societies. Discuss the three techniques to researching personality in a cultural context that have been developed.
As you have studied throughout this chapter, both hereditary and environmental variables influence one’s personality. When it comes to environmental elements that influence your personality, the culture in which you live is one of the most essential (TriandisSuh, 2002). The term “culture” refers to all of a society’s beliefs, practices, art, and traditions, as well as the way in which they are expressed. Human culture is passed down to us through language and by seeing and practicing both culturally acceptable and nonacceptable acts that are either rewarded or penalized (TriandisSuh, 2002).
- They want to know if personality traits are the same throughout cultures or if there are differences between them.
- Why could it be vital to take cultural factors into account while analyzing personality?
- The strength of personality traits has been shown to vary among cultures, which is a fact supported by research.
- As you will learn when you study social psychology, Asian cultures are more collectivist than Western cultures, and people from these cultures are less extroverted than those from other cultures.
- According to the findings of this study, there appear to be regional personality variations inside the United States as well as across countries (figure below).
People who reside in Clusters 2 and 3 are also often more open than those who live in Cluster 1. (Rentfrow et al., 2013).
Researchers found three distinct regional personality clusters in the United States. People tend to be friendly and conventional in the Upper Midwest and Deep South; relaxed, emotionally stable, and creative in the West; and stressed, irritable, and depressed in the Northeast (Rentfrow et al., 2013).
One possible reason for geographical disparities is the phenomenon of selective migration (Rentfrow et al., 2013). ‘Selective migration’ refers to the notion of individuals choosing to relocate to locations that are compatible with their personalities and requirements. For example, a person who scores highly on the pleasant scale would likely choose to live close to family and friends, and would choose to settle or remain in a neighborhood where they feel comfortable. On the other hand, someone who values openness might want to live in a community that is known for being diverse and forward-thinking (such as California).
- As a result, those who score highly on this feature are more likely to be industrious and intellectually interested than those who do not.
- Individuals from Central, North, and South American cultures are well-known for their ability to work together.
- The prosocial resource control method is used by a large number of people who have high degrees of openness.
- They are also more likely to be self-motivated than the general population.
PERSONALITY IN INDIVIDUALIST AND COLLECTIVIST CULTURES
Individualist and collectivist societies lay different emphasis on fundamental principles than one another. People who live in individualist societies are more likely to feel that independence, competitiveness, and personal success are vital qualities to have. Individualism is highly valued by individuals in Western countries such as the United States, England, and Australia, among others (Oyserman, Coon,Kemmelmier, 2002). People who live in collectivist cultures place a high importance on social peace, mutual respect, and the needs of the collective over the needs of the individual.
These values have an impact on one’s personality.
APPROACHES TO STUDYING PERSONALITY IN A CULTURAL CONTEXT
In order to research personality in a cultural context, there are three ways that may be used: the cultural-comparative approach, the indigenous approach, and the combined approach, which contains components of both viewpoints. Because Western notions about personality have their origins in the West, the cultural-comparative method tries to test Western ideas about personality in other cultures in order to discover if they can be generalized and whether they possess cultural validity (Cheung van de Vijver,Leong, 2011).
They discovered application across a wide range of civilizations around the world, with the Big Five features being consistent across a wide range of cultures (McCraeCosta, 1997; McCrae et al., 2005).
The indigenous model has resulted in the development of personality assessment instruments that are based on constructs that are relevant to the culture under investigation, as Western-based personality assessments are unable to fully capture the personality constructs of other cultures in their entirety (Cheung et al., 2011).
Cross-cultural studies of personality take a third technique, known as the combined approach, which acts as a link between Western and indigenous psychology, allowing researchers to better comprehend both universal and cultural variances in personality characteristics (Cheung et al., 2011).
SUMMARY
It is one of the most important environmental elements that influences your personality that you live in a culture that is different from your own. It is possible that Western concepts of personality are not relevant to other cultures. The strength of personality traits has been shown to vary among cultures, which is a fact supported by research. Individualist and collectivist societies lay different emphasis on fundamental principles than one another. People who live in individualist societies are more likely to feel that independence, competitiveness, and personal success are vital qualities to have.
When studying personality in a cultural context, there are three ways that may be used: the cultural-comparative approach, the indigenous approach, and the combined approach, which contains parts of both viewpoints.
Exercises
It is one of the most important environmental elements that influences your personality that you live in a culture that is different than your own. It’s possible that Western concepts of personality aren’t appropriate in other cultures. In fact, there is evidence to suggest that the strength of personality characteristics differs from culture to culture as well. Different fundamental values are emphasized in individualist and collectivist cultures, and these differences are reflected in the way they organize their societies.
Social peace, respect, and communal needs are more important to people who live in collectivist societies than they are to individuals.
The following are references:Openstax Psychology content by Kathryn Dumper, William Jenkins, Arlene Lacombe, Marilyn Lovett, and Marion Perlmutter is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Answers to Exercises
1. Because culture has an impact on one’s personality, Western conceptions about personality may not be appropriate to persons from other cultures. 2. Furthermore, when Western-based methods of personality evaluation are employed to collect data on persons from different cultures, it is possible that the results will be invalid.
Glossary: All of a society’s beliefs, customs, art, and traditions are considered to be part of its culture. People choose to relocate to areas that are compatible with their personalities and requirements, according to the notion of selective migration.
2.4: Different Cultural Factors Affecting Personality
Because culture permeates every part of our life, the number of cultural aspects that we might be able to analyze in the study of personality is rather extensive, as we will see below. A few main aspects stand out, however, and have been the topic of extensive research in the field of psychology. These are as follows: Consequently, we will take a quick look at four main characteristics that will appear regularly throughout this book: religion, race, gender, and age. Religion is a component that will be discussed in depth later in this book.
Religion as a Cultural Influence
.religion, on the other hand, has the greatest impact on all groups and systems of culture, ranging from science and the fine arts to politics and economics. One cannot comprehend the fundamental characteristics and social dynamics of a culture or group unless one is familiar with their religion – their systems of ultimate values – and vice versa. Page 228 of Sorokin’s 1947 book In addition to Abram Kardiner and Robert LeVine, both of whom studied anthropology and psychoanalysis, and both of whom, as previously said, were religious believers, were Abram Kardiner and Robert LeVine (see Kardiner, et al., 1945; LeVine, 1973).
- The importance of religion as possibly the most major cultural influence notwithstanding, there is a wide range in the amount to which formal religious beliefs and rituals are integrated into everyday life in various cultures (see MatsumotoJuang, 2004).
- However, this is changing, and despite the role that religion has played in many political battles and outright war (as has been the case in the Middle East for thousands of years!
- (Compton, 2005; Peterson, 2006; PetersonSeligman, 2004; SnyderLopez, 2005).
- Drawing (figure) (PageIndex ) In terms of cultural variables influencing people’s lives and personal growth, religion and spirituality appear to be the most crucial.
Some of the author’s copies of the Holy Bible, the Holy Quran, the Discourses of the Buddha, the Yoga-Stra, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Tao Te Ching are displayed here.
The Question of Race and Ethnicity as Cultural Influences
When we analyze the idea of race, we must first confront three distinct alternatives: 1) There is such a thing as race in humanity; 2) There is no such thing as race in mankind; 3) Even if there is such a thing as race in mankind, it can have no relevance other than in the minds of those who think about it and react to their idea of it. Page 38 of Krogman’s 1945 book Although religion may be the most major cultural component, the notion of race has probably been there for much longer, and it is undoubtedly the most physically visible of the factors to consider.
The crux of the matter is that there is no definitive solution to the question of what exactly constitutes race (Krogman, 1945; Linton, 1936, 1955; Sorokin, 1947).
Additional genetic research have indicated that there is more variance between groups than there is variation within groups, further supporting the notion that race is merely a social fabrication.
This, however, does not provide a solution to our dilemma because the idea of ethnicity suffers from the same limitations as the concept of race (Brislin, 2000; MatsumotoJuang, 2004; MillerGarran, 2008; WhitleyKite, 2006).
Despite the fact that the United States contains huge populations of individuals of many races, ethnic groups, faiths, and nations, all of these people contribute to the wider cultural identity of “American.” Indeed, the very notion of America as a “melting pot” makes it impossible to categorize the American people according to their race or ethnicity.
- The people who live within the borders of the United States cannot be referred to as “Americans” and expect them to be identical in every other way to those who reside beyond those borders.
- Critical thinking must be used to personality theories and their application in a wide range of contexts at all times.
- Despite the notion that ethnicity and race are cultural elements of doubtful importance, there are two crucially essential difficulties that arise as a result of their existence.
- The impartiality of cross-cultural research is compromised by such value judgements, which can also have detrimental consequences for intercultural dialogue.
- It has been mentioned in the quotation above that race is extremely real if individuals believe in it and act in accordance with their beliefs about it.
- For the time being, consider the following passage from a recently published book titled Racism in the United States: Implications for the Helping Professions: As a permanent feature of the human condition, racism has evolved over time.
- While we live in a world in which the vast majority of countries have signed United Nations declarations on human rights and profess to be democracies, we also live in a world in which racial and ethnic violence is widespread.
Gender and Cultural Differences Male and female gender have been the subject of a wide range of studies, ranging from popular psychology books such as Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus (Gray, 1992) and Self-Made Man: One Woman’s Journey into Manhood and Back (Vincent, 2006) to ominous-sounding titles in academic psychology such as The Longest War: Gender and Culture (Vincent, 2006).
It was argued by the president of Harvard University back in 2005 that women’s inherent ability for math and science was one of the reasons why there were so few of them in those areas.
An lengthy research, conducted by former American Psychological Association President Diane Halpern, came to no particular results owing to the complicated interplay of a multitude of circumstances, but it did make it obvious that no direct responsibility can be placed on inherent or hereditary ability, as previously thought (Halpern, et al., 2007; see also Barnett, 2007).
- Male-female disparities are arguably the most frequently addressed using this approach because of an implicit assumption that sex differences result in gender variations.
- Some cultural influences, on the other hand, may have their origins in biological reality.
- Women become pregnant and subsequently breastfeed their kids, therefore it makes sense for women to offer early childcare for the children of their partners.
- With addition, older males frequently become involved in childcare once their hunting and fighting days are through, which further complicates the situation for everyone.
- Men tend to be more aggressive, whilst women tend to be more concerned with their connections with other people.
- Men and women are also at odds with one another because of their communication challenges, which explains the popularity of John Gray’s book, which claims that men and women come from entirely different worlds.
- Women such as Karen Horney (see Chapter 8) and the Stone Center Group (see Chapter 9) have, however, made significant advances toward reversing this trend.
- (e.g., Matlin, 2004).
Aging within a Cultural Context
Age is used to divide individuals in a culture just as frequently as sex is used to divide people in a society. Everyone lives in a society that recognizes at least three different age groups: kid, adult, and elderly. In most cultures, childhood is further subdivided into two stages: early childhood and adolescence. Each group has its own set of rights, obligations, tasks, and social standing (Linton, 1936; Sorokin, 1947). These can occasionally come into conflict with one another. The Comanche, like most Plains tribes in North America, expected their adult males to be warriors, but the old man was revered for his knowledge and tenderness, as was the case with most Native American tribes.
- Those who were compelled to make the shift became extremely deadly enemies for the young men who were going from childhood to maturity, and the old men would frequently kill the young men when they had the opportunity (out of sheer envy).
- In certain cultures, having a close contact with individuals who have passed away is a very significant component of everyday life (Linton, 1936).
- Despite the fact that contemporary industrialisation is associated with a much longer lifespan, such abrupt cultural shifts benefit the young, who are better able to adjust to the new environment.
- Oddly enough, this relieves the obligation of caring for elderly people from the exact family that those elderly people had nurtured and cared for themselves!
David Gutmann, an early gerontologist with a particular interest in the effects of aging on personality, has devoted his professional life to studying men from four different cultures: a typical American population (to the extent that such a thing exists), the Navajo in the United States, both Lowland and Highland Maya in Mexico, and the Druze in Israel, to name a few examples (see Gutmann, 1987, 1997).
- One of the most remarkable truths that he begins with is the understanding that the human species is the only one in which people continue to be active long after they have passed the age of reproductive potential.
- Gutmann thinks that our elderly play distinctive roles in society, and as a result, they provide significant advantages to the extended family and the community, particularly to the younger generation.
- As previously said, however, the transition into old age is not always simple, and this can result in certain distinct changes in personality that are connected with the passage of time.
- Consequently, both men and women may begin to express those elements of their personalities that had been suppressed in order to enable the rearing of children for each other.
- The method in which men seek mastery over their life is a particularly important development for men who no longer have the physical power to be warriors (or to engage in the physical work of their communities).
- Older men must seek passive mastery through adaptation and accommodation in order to maintain their independence.
- The world becomes a place where both prospective providers and potential predators may exist side by side.
- Their interaction with the outside world is characterized by emotions of vulnerability (Gutmann, 1987, 1997).
- It goes without saying that the extent to which a society provides for its oldest individuals, such as through retirement benefits, would have a considerable impact on this aging process.
Question for Discussion: To what extent have religion, ethnicity, gender, and age played a role in your personal growth (now or in the past)? Discussion Question: Which of the following do you believe will be the most significant in your future development?
Addressing the Degree of Cultural Integration
Two key aspects contribute to the intricacy of the function that culture plays in the formation of our personalities. The degree to which an individual is integrated into their culture, and vice versa, is the first factor to consider. Moreover, as Sorokin points out, it is quite uncommon for a person to be either completely incorporated into their culture or completely excluded from it altogether (Sorokin, 1947; see also Kardiner, et al., 1945; Linton, 1936). As a result, while culture offers a framework within which individual diversity is conceivable, there will always be some consistent foundation for comprehending the people who live within a specific culture.
This becomes particularly important when considering cross-cultural research, because it is reasonable to make some general assumptions about an individual from another culture.
Individuals’ responses to the aging process are influenced by a variety of factors, including gender and race/ethnicity (see, e.g., Arber, Davidson,Ginn, 2003; Barrow, 1986; CalasantiSlevin, 2001; CoolMcCabe, 1983; Holmes, 1983).
(Levey, Blanco,Jones, 1998).
In any case, there are numerous other examples that can be used to illustrate the point that as an individual develops, with multiple cultural factors influencing them, and each factor being integrated to a greater or lesser extent, the potential for individual personality differences is extraordinary, even when the overall effect of a specific culture, or society, is to guide its members toward certain underlying tendencies that become characteristic of that culture’s members.
The following is the discussion question: Are you, or anybody you know, estranged from or unintegrated with your family’s culture, or with the culture of your community as a whole?
If you don’t have any, does your cultural integration give you a sense of belonging?
How Culture Affects Personality – Free Essay Example
Please keep this in mind! This article was written by a student and submitted to us. Every individual has a distinct personality that distinguishes him or her from others. Characteristics classified according to the five component theory include openness to experience, agreeability, conscientiousness, extrovertism, and neuroticism, to name a few. Generalized, culture includes different characteristics like as norms, values, the environment, beliefs, language, and so on. It differs significantly from ethnicity or race (although connections exist), and it is unique from both (Bennet-Martinez, Oishi, 2008).
- In this paper, six important characteristics of culture and how they influence personality are discussed and analyzed in detail.
- According to Diener et al.
- (1995)).
- Because of this, while many components of personality are genetically determined, it is critical to understand how various aspects of culture influence the way in which we develop and shape our personalities within various situations.
- Culture is passed down from generation to generation.
- A large number of psychologists feel that culture has a significant influence on the development of our personalities as a result of this.
- As a result, it is critical that we include our understanding of the relationship between culture and individual variances in behavior.
- Although culture does not normally affect an individual’s genetic make-up, it may have an impact on how dispositional traits are expanded or reinforced during development and exhibited or manifested across circumstances.
A culture is made up of a variety of components. In this article, I will concentrate on six dimensions of culture and how they influence personality, namely, values, religion, norms, family, social class, and language, as well as how they influence personality.
Values
Every culture has its own set of ideals that it adheres to. G.E. Hofstede has discovered a systematic relationship between cultural values and personality characteristics. Competence, self-reliance, originality, emotional detachment, and hedonism are highly valued in individualist cultures, and one must put up considerable effort to distinguish oneself from others. People who live in a collectivist society place a high priority on connection, interdependence, sociability, and the importance of family.
- In certain cultures, individuals are extremely driven to be different, but in others, they desire to be the same as everyone else, according to research (KimMarkus, 1999).
- While individuals in collectivist cultures regard the environment as variable and themselves as more or less stable, those in capitalist cultures see the environment as more or less constant (ChiuHong, 1999).
- The trait that distinguishes collectivist society is its preoccupation on interpersonal relationships.
- Individualists are not greatly influenced by the thoughts and behaviors of others, whereas persons from collectivist cultures are heavily impacted by the thoughts and behaviors of others.
Religion
Spiritual beliefs may assist people in finding meaning and purpose in their lives, and they can also have an impact on their personalities. Among the findings of one research, by HennigsgaardArnau, was that, at the univariate level, all religious and spirituality factors indicated a statistically significant relationship with the Big Five Traits. In a separate study, Alminhana and Moreira-Almeda discovered that strong religiousness is connected with reduced psychotic symptoms as well as high agreeableness and conscientiousness in the participants.
- Other studies corroborate the findings of McCullough and Willoughby’s study, which demonstrated that religion can increase self-control and self-monitoring, and that these notions are frequently related with conscientiousness; nevertheless, these data do not support their conclusions.
- Norms Norms are informal standards on what is deemed right or improper in a given group of people that are established by consensus.
- A set of social norms exists in every society, and these norms influence our ideas and actions in significant ways.
- As we grow older, our personalities evolve in response to the experiences that have occurred in our lives from infancy into adulthood, and culture plays an important part in the occurrence of many events in our everyday lives.
- Norms can govern which characteristics are seen as essential, resulting in persons from a certain culture having characteristics that are similar to one another.
- For example, if a kid’s culture imposes certain dress constraints on him or her, the youngster may choose to dress in a different manner if these limits are not imposed.
- It is possible that apparent sex differences are actually cultural gender disparities, and cultures and civilizations have a substantial impact on gender roles from a very young age, according to research (Brislin, 2000).
Women tend to be maternal, kind, and empathetic in such societies, whereas males tend to be assertive and aggressive.
The form and behaviors of families varies from one culture to the next.
People who were raised with a variety of various kinds of discipline will exhibit a variety of personality traits.
The amount of neuroticism in later life can be predicted by specific interactions within families and early connections in a given culture, according to research findings.
Nakao, J.
Tatsuta, et al, 2000).
According to Freud, disparities in parental socialization result in variations in anxiety, which in turn result in variations in personality characteristics (Jerome).
Each individual learns about their culture when they interact with other family members, which leads to the development of behavioral patterns and the ability to adjust to life as a result. This, in turn, has an impact on their character.
Social class
“A social framework that individuals occupy in permanent and pervasive ways across time,” according to Piff (2014), and it influences how we perceive ourselves and others. Individuals who are classified as lower class have fewer possibilities and resources than those who are classified as upper class, and as a result, they are more likely to believe that external social factors have a stronger impact over their life. Tori (2015) defined formalized formalized formalized formalized (Tori, 2015).
Individuals of lower social status are more emotionally sensitive to the emotions of others.
People from different socioeconomic classes develop personalities that are distinct from one another.
Those who have grown up in an environment considered to be lower class, for example, are less assertive, have less openness, are less likely to challenge the status quo, and have lower expectations of themselves, whereas those who have grown up in an environment considered to be upper class tend to have a greater degree of openness, assertiveness, and neurotic tendencies.
As a result, someone’s personality might be influenced by their socioeconomic status.
They may appear gregarious and confident at work but revert to their natural state when they are away from the office or at home.
Language
Languages in different cultures are always developing to reflect the cultural setting in which they are spoken. Languages differ in terms of culturally distinct vocabulary and grammatical variances, resulting in a variety of personality characteristics. Language is related with cultural scripts, customs, and social standards, to name a few things (ChenBond, 2010). Language enables individuals of a community to interact with one another, to express their emotions, and to carry on their culture to subsequent generations of people.
For example, if one believes that French is a polished language, speaking it may make one feel even more refined and more wiser than before.
As a result, it conjures both individualism and collectivism.
Experiments have shown that ChineseEnglish bilinguals are viewed as more extraverted, aggressive, and open when speaking with Caucasian interviewers. This finding is congruent with these bilinguals’ judgments of the characteristics of prototypical English speakers (Chen and Bond, 2010).