Really Culture Shapes Human Decisions? A Blog on Culture & Social History
Personality is more than just genes. A large part of who we are and the decisions that we make are influenced by the culture that we grew up in. So, where does this influence start? Think all the way back to when you learned manners. You were probably scolded for engaging in behavior that was considered rude in your culture. Conversely, you were probably encouraged to engage in behaviors that are considered polite.
As you were conditioned to engage in more polite behaviors, you subconsciously picked up on patterns that influenced how you behave. These patterns are highly influenced by the values of the culture that you grew up in. But not all cultures hold the same values. Some cultures tend to encourage behaviors that are loud, boisterous, and competitive. Others encourage quiet, respectful, and more humble behaviors. Depending on the culture where you live, you probably picked up on these values, and they have definitely influenced your decisions and your personality. Researchers have been studying the connections between culture and personality for a long time.
The placement of cultures on these spectrums highly influences the personality traits and behaviors of the people within that culture. So, culture is not determined by borders. For example, just because the country you live in has an individualist culture does not mean you are bound by individualist ideas
Let’s get started by talking about individual versus collectivist culture. Individualism focuses on the individual, just as the name implies. People living in an individualist environment prioritize self-improvement and satisfying their own needs before those of their community. Why? Well, individualist cultures believe and teach that if everyone takes care of themselves, then the entire group should thrive and become self-sufficient. Individualist cultures put a lot of stress on independence and self-reliance.
Those who live in this type of culture tend to be very self-sufficient and driven workers but may be weak when it comes to collaboration and teamwork. They usually struggle with handing off responsibilities. In general, these people usually distance themselves psychologically and emotionally from one another, since working with others is more of an option than a requirement for success. In the media, we often see individualist characteristics associated with men, people in urban settings, and the culture.
So, what about collectivist cultures? People living in a collectivist environment are taught to focus on the needs of the group before they focus on their own individual needs. They associate their identity with the role and function in a larger group. These groups can include families, teams at work, or the entire nation. Collectivist societies teach people that everyone will benefit when they start to look out for one another. Harmony and interdependence between group members are highly valued among people in this type of environment. Unlike their individualist counterparts, members of collectivist cultures tend to be extremely close to each other psychologically and emotionally. This can create an us-versus-them mindset that separates or looks down upon people who are outside of their group.
Collectivist characteristics are generally associated with women and people in rural settings and Eastern cultures. So, let’s look at another spectrum. Did you grow up in an approach or an avoidance culture? This idea was coined in 1935 to help psychologists identify what makes some conflicts easy to resolve and others difficult to resolve. Where you lie on this spectrum can highly influence how you make decisions.
So, what is approach versus avoidance? Humans typically want to approach and move towards pleasurable things and they typically want to avoid and move away from negative or painful things. It’s very similar to Freud’s pleasure-pain principle. The idea of approach versus avoidance was measured when an experiment was conducted on rats in 1948. The rats were exposed to different positive and negative stimuli. Researchers then measured the strength of their pull towards the stimuli. The most interesting results from this experiment revealed that the closer the rats were to the item that they were either approaching or avoiding, the stronger their pull was in either direction. Now, this can be applied to humans and how they make their decisions and categorize conflict.
But what does this have to do with the culture where you grew up? Culture doesn’t teach you to avoid physical pain and approach food; those things are instinctual to all humans. The things we learn to approach and avoid through culture appeal to a higher need. One example of this is something called uncertainty avoidance. The uncertainty avoidance of a culture is a measure of how that culture responds to novelty and uncertainty. How does the culture deal with ambiguity? Are change and ambiguity welcomed in the nation, or does the culture adhere to stable traditional rules and customs?
Now, in some research I found that countries that generally score high in neuroticism tend to be high in uncertainty avoidance. Those countries usually have a more formal system of rules that try to minimize cultural or situational ambiguity, and the citizens are uninterested in changing them. These cultures tend to be more conservative, more emotional, and usually xenophobic. Families in these cultures tend to have more traditional gender roles. Schools have more structured learning, and children are taught to trust that their teachers have all of the answers. Children are also taught that the outside world may be a hostile place. Religions associated with uncertainty avoidance include Catholicism, Islam, Judaism, and Shintoism.
Conversely, countries low in neuroticism and low in uncertainty avoidance tend to have fewer laws and regulations, and their citizens are much more interested in politics. These cultures are often more open to change and more tolerant of diversity. People within these cultures tend to suppress their emotions less. Families in these cultures usually have looser gender roles, and their schools have a more open-minded learning approach. As a generality, teachers are allowed to say that they don’t know, and students are encouraged to question authority. Children are also taught to view the outside world as benevolent and that they should not persecute others based on their beliefs. Religions associated with low uncertainty avoidance include Protestantism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Hinduism.
So, where do you fit in? Uncertainty avoidance is just one concept that is influenced by a culture’s personality and how it influences the decisions and behaviors of the people within that culture. What were you taught to avoid? What were you taught to approach? And how does the culture where you grew up influence what you consider to be comfortable and uncomfortable?
