Thursday, December 4th, 2014 Marianne WaasDecember 4th, 2014 Bookmarks: 113 Comments: 2. LANGUAGE AND ENVIRONMENT' BY EDWARD SAPIR HERE is a strong tendency to ascribe many elements of human culture to the influence of the environment in which the sharers of that culture are placed, some even taking the extreme position of reducing practically all manifestations of human life and thought to environmental influences. In this fast-paced survey of research on how culture shapes cognition, Nalini Ambady examines the neural evidence for socio-cultural influences on thinking, judgment, and behavior. In 1988, intercultural communication research Stella Ting-Toomey developed face-negotiation theory to help explain the importance of face within interpersonal interactions.37 The basic idea behind face-negotiation theory is that face-saving, conflict, and culture are all intertwined. I always check my knowledge of someone from another culture to ensure that my understanding of their culture is accurate. From a social and cultural context, how an individual expresses his or her sexual orientation is associated with the type of environment he or she was raised in, which would not only take into account social and cultural features but also religious and political elements as well (Campo-Arias, 2010). 4 - 9) of your reading: Understanding Culture. Long-term orientation focuses on the future and not the present or the past. Attitude and Behaviours Influenced by Ones Culture: 1. First, when it comes to engaging with people from other cultures, we need to be fully in the moment and not think about previous interactions with people from a culture or possible future interactions with people from a culture. Social, Cultural and Historical Factors Impacting Learning The immediate impressions we get in our minds occur because of stereotypes we associate with these words. Define the term stereotype and explain its implications for interpersonal communication. It also examines the closely related concepts of values and identities. ADVERTISEMENTS: 6. ADVERTISEMENTS: 2. _____14. Shortly after 9-11, a flag shortage occurred in the United States because people wanted to display our unity and pride during those horrible days after the atrocities that occurred on U.S. soil. Henri Tajfel originally coined the term collective self as that aspect of an individuals self-concept which derives from his knowledge of his membership in a social group (or groups) together with the value and emotional significance attached to that membership.8 Jennifer Crocker and Riia Luhtanen took Tajfels ideas one step further and discussed them as an individuals collective self-esteem, or the aspect of an individuals self-worth or self-image that stems from their interaction with others and evaluation of their various social groups.9 Based on their research, Crocker and Luhtanen found four different factors related to an individuals collective self-esteem: private collective esteem, membership esteem, public collective esteem, and importance to identity. Most Asian countries are considered collectivistic cultures because these cultures tend to be group-focused. Within a given culture, there are generally guiding principles and standards that help determine what is desirable and appropriate. Sports just arent my thing. How do you respond? Artifacts, such as breath spray, cologne and aftershave, can influence a person's nonverbal behavior. _____2. One of our authors has a cousin named Melanie, who is often called Mel by the family, and our coauthor had a close friend in college, who was a male, named Hillary. The importance of microcultures goes back to Abraham Maslows need for belonging. We all feel the need to belong, and these microcultures give us that sense of belonging on a more localized level. How Does Culture Influence Behavior? - The Freeman Online The other countries did not differ from each other with regard to trait affection given. It is formed by the union of sperm and ovum. 7. They may have their own exclusive stories, histories, mascots, and specializations. Two major interests have been apparent in sociology's focus on identity: (1) the process (es) through which adult identity is formed and (2) the process (es) by which that identity is maintained once it is formed. So, within these cultures, martyrdom is something that is valued. If your goal is to learn more about that persons culture, thats a great intention. Every one of us has grown up in a unique cultural environment, and this culture has impacted how we communicate. In this section, were going to examine three important luminaries that have helped shape our understanding of culture and intercultural communication: Edward T. Hall, Geert Hofsteded, and Stella Ting-Toomey. Power distance represents views on inequality: high power distance translates to the belief that the powerful have privileges and may inherit their position by way of force; low power distance societies believe power should be distributed equally. During the last ten years, efforts to quantify a countrys environmental performance have been conducted through Environmental Performance Indexes (EPIs)formally recognized scorecards developed in response to the Millennium Development Goals and used to rank a countrys environmental policies in different categories based on outcome-oriented indicators. Norms are informal guidelines about what is acceptable or proper social behavior within a specific culture. Beliefs are assumptions and convictions held by an individual, group, or culture about the truth or existence of something. Cultural Differences in Substance Use I Psych Central One of the most impactful internal factors is the owners, shareholders, and sometimes the executive management team. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe. Stereotypes prejudice us to look at all members of a group as similar and to ignore the unique differences among individuals. Kelly spoke with Kim Wasserman and Juliana Pino of the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO). Informal guidelines about what is acceptable or proper social behavior within a specific culture. ), Handbook of cultural intelligence: Theory, measurement, and application (pp. The degree to which nonmembers of a group evaluate a group and its members either positively or negatively. 1. Dress 4. More simplistically, face is essentially a persons reputation and feelings of prestige within multiple spheres, including the workplace, the family, personal friends, and society at large.44 For our purposes, we can generally break face down into general categories: face gaining and face losing. While the authors had hypothesized that the groupthink mentality of collectivist countries would encourage eco-efficiency, it was found, rather, that individualistic countries prevailed, perhaps by imbuing in their citizens a greater sense of duty and self-empowerment. Face-negotiation theory ultimately concerned with three different types of face: self-face (concern for our face), other-face (concern for another persons face), and mutual-face (concern for both interactants and the relationship).39 As you can see from Ting-Toomeys last assumption in her theory above, individuals who are competent in facework can recognize when facework is necessary and then handle those situations appropriately, effectively, and adaptively. During the middle of the conversation, you have a feeling that your interactional partner is losing face. On the other hand, maybe you had a bad experience with a Purple Person being lazy at work and in your mind decide all Purple People must behave like that. Identity formation and evolution are impacted by a variety of internal and external factors like society, family, loved ones, ethnicity, race, culture, location, opportunities, media, interests, appearance, self-expression and life experiences. Next, we discussed the intersection of culture and communication. Listed below are the environmental factors that influence our cultural identity. A luminary is an expert who sheds light on a subject and inspires and influences others work in that area. The different environments in this model (Figure 1) typically include: the individual: the adolescent, or person of focus the microsystem: relationships with family, school personnel, peers, health service professionals the mesosystem: interactions between microsystems (e.g., families and teachers) the exosystem: local politics, mass media Key points. Unlike B.F. Skinner, Ban-dura believed that humans are distinguished from lower animals by cognitive abilities that enable them to shape their environment and not purely be shaped by it, with self-efficacy being the core belief that drives humans as effective agents. However, income is just one indicatory of power distance within a culture. There are many factors that influence our health. You also need to be aware of your stereotypes and prejudices that you may have of people from a different culture. Maybe you immediately think of going to the ballet, an opera, or an art museum. Our cultural identity can evolve, as culture is ever-evolving and dynamic. One of the most important factors in our understanding of communication is culture. Why would you want to do this at all? Theres also a massive difference in the approach to marriage. In this case, was Jalissa culturally intelligent? We mean cast members) who work for the Disney company quickly realize that there is more to working at Disney than a uniform and a name badge. Finally, individuals from indulgent cultures tend to be more extraverted and outgoing as a whole, whereas individuals from restrained cultures tend to be more neurotic. Roy grabbed the mask, walked up behind Jalissa, and shouted, Abugga bugga! Jalissa turned around and laughingly slapped Roy on the arm responding, You White racist cracker! Jalissa looked at an older White woman standing in the row completely startled, and she just busted out laughing and Roy joined right in. _____18. List the ten ways in which educators (practitioners) can become culturally responsive. Research has shown that there are four significant parts to collective self-esteem: private collective esteem (positive or negative evaluation you have a group), membership esteem (the degree to which you see yourself as a good member of a group), public collective esteem (how the public views the group you belong to), and importance to identity (importance of group membership to you). Cultures that interpret meaning by relying more on nonverbal context or behavior than on verbal symbols in communication. Populations that originated in a particular place rather than moved there. The way that you carry a conversation, respond to failure, form relationships with others, and generally behave is in part related to your genetics - but your world and life experiences also shape your attitudes and behaviors. For example, in many cultures throughout history, martyrdom (dying for ones cause) has been something deeply valued. However, previous research has not focused on the role of college marching band participation in student development. Environmental factors often influence traits independently of genes. We also mentioned that nonverbal communication isnt exactly universal. Others are relatively small, with only a small number of people who associate themselves with that culture. Over the years, there have been numerous definitions of the word culture. What are the established language, religion, behavior, values, rituals, and social customs within your society? Social factors include ideas regarding gender roles conveyed by family, authority figures, mass media, and other influential people in a child's life. These different myths lead to very different views of the individuals relationship with both the world and with their God, gods, or goddesses. I would have no problems accustoming myself to the routines of another culture. _____5. In fact, within the latest edition of the book examining these characteristics, Hofstede and his colleagues title the chapter on uncertainty avoidance as What is Different is Dangerous, calling out the threat factor people in high uncertainty avoidance cultures feel.31 Cultures at the high end of uncertainty avoidance include Greece, Portugal, Guatemala, Uruguay, and Belgium Flemish; whereas, cultures at the low end of uncertainty avoidance include Singapore, Jamaica, Denmark, Sweden, and Hong Kong. This definition is a bit complex, so lets break it down. In the case of cultural stereotypes, cultural members share a belief (or set of beliefs) about another cultural group. The graduate policy review of The University of Chicago, Harris School of Public Policy. Hofstede refers to this as being more relationally oriented. For this reason, we often also examine microcultures that can exist in organizational settings. However, the concepts of what is low, middle, and upper can have very large differences. In this case, was Roy culturally intelligent? Olivier, Maystre, Thoenig and Verdier use the above model of cultural transmission to develop an understanding of the dynamic that links globalization and individual cultural preferences and values. _____17. By growing up and surrounding oneself with culture and all itsshow more content Data from a 2013 study by economists George Halkos and Nickolaos Tzeremes in the Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy Studies evaluates just such an influence in the relationship between major cultural dimensions and ecologic efficiency. Short-term oriented cultures, on the other hand, tend to focus on both the past and the present. The next category identified by Hofstede involves the concept of uncertainty avoidance.30 Life is full of uncertainty. Geert Hofstedes research created a taxonomy for understanding and differentiating cultures. Chinese - Indonesians' Culture in relation to Personal Identity. Social and Cultural Factors that Can Influence Your Health This model allows an ethnic person four possibilities: a) a strong bicultural identity, b) a strong ethnic identity but a weak identification with mainstream culture, c) a weak ethnic identity but a strong identification with mainstream culture, and d) a weak identification with both cultures. The extent to which cultures as a whole are fearful of ambiguous and unknown situations. Cultural intelligence (CQ) is defined as an individuals capability to function effectively in situations characterized by cultural diversity.46, In their original study on the topic, Earley and Ang argued that cultural intelligence is based on four distinct factors: cognitive, motivational, metacognitive, and behavioral dimensions. Second, we learn about our culture. Although intercultural encounters often involve stress, I dont mind the stress because meeting people from new cultures makes it worth it. Instructions: Read the following questions and select the answer that corresponds with your perception. In masculine cultures, women are the caretakers of the home, while men are to be healthy and wealthy. Compare and contrast two countries and their levels of context. At the same time, dont judge yourself for having these ideas. Moral development is strongly influenced by interpersonal factors, such as family, peers, and culture. All of us live in a world where we are raised in a dominant culture. The cultural variability dimensions of individualism-collectivism and small/large power distance shape the orientations, movements, contents, and styles of facework. Almost half of flight attendants today are over 45 years of age. How environment can influence personality - Fast Company However, that may not be the only intention we have when interacting with someone from another culture. One of the biggest misunderstandings new people studying culture have is that an individual can have their own personalized culture. Groups that are very similar genetically may hold vastly different and even hostile cultural identities, while people with divergent genetic origins can share a powerful sense of common identity that is the essence of ethnic consciousness. Chapter 6: Cultural and Environmental Factors in Interpersonal Communication One of the most important factors in our understanding of communication is culture. Thinking about your college or university, how would you explain your microculture to someone unfamiliar with your culture? Admittedly, in Hofstedes research, there does tend to be a difference between females and males on these characteristics (females tend to be more relationally oriented and males more assertive), which is why Hofstede went with the terms masculinity and femininity in the first place. The concept of Today's advanced technology and ease of travel has led to a level of globalization that makes it possible for cultural components to travel around the world. Theory Tasks. Religion and religious faiths that is beliefs. Over time, you may start to see a wide array of problems with gangs, so you may start to devalue the group. But this asymmetry toward industrialized. When do you think ethnocentrism helps you have collective self-esteem, and when do you think it leads to prejudice? The degree to which an individual positively evaluates their group. Over the years, the two graduated and went to different jobs that were close to each other. Cultural orientation marked by immediate gratification for individual desires. In this chapter, were going to explore culture and its impact on interpersonal communication. The standing or position a person has in the eyes of others. According to Hofstedes data, the U.S. is 16th from the bottom of power distance, so we are in the bottom third with regards to power distance. This simple exercise demonstrates how often and easy it is for stereotypes to enter into our heads. The goal of this study was to broaden the understanding of its . Often these stereotypes that we have of those other groups (e.g., Purple People) occur because we are taught them since we are very young. President George H. Bush once held up his hand in a V for Victory salute to an Australian audience only to find out later that this was the equivalent of the middle finger in the United States. As such, there is a focus on both persistence and thrift. Many factors go into influencing personality, including genetics, environment, parenting, and societal variables. While research suggests that genetics play an important role in personality, it is also important to recognize that other factors do have an influence. Explain the concept of collective self-esteem. For example, maybe you belong to the Yellow culture and perceive all members of the Purple culture as lazy. When it comes to power distances, these differences often manifest themselves in many ways within a singular culture: class, education, occupations, and health care. Explain the meaning of each factor. Ultimately, research examining these differences have shown that people from indulgent countries are more open to other cultures, more satisfied with their lives, and are more likely to communicate with friends and family members via the Internet while interacting with more people from other cultures via the Internet as well. However, in collectivistic cultures, a person would answer in terms of the group, organization, and/or corporation that they serve. Everything influences our way of thinking and our opinions: the climate influences our mood, the pollution influences our health, and the natural resources might affect human survival. For example, when you travel to a new country (or even a state within your own country), you expect to encounter different clothing, languages, foods, rituals, etc. The word culture is a hotly debated term among academics. These are classified as core elements. Society Does our identity begin its cultivation from the moment we're born? Face is the standing or position a person has in the eyes of others. Its not uncommon for different dorms on campus to develop their own unique cultures that are distinct from other dorms. Labeling our stereotypes of other people is important because it helps us recognize them faster, the more we engage in this type of mindful behavior. Impact of environment upon gender identity and sexual orientation: a Some stereotypes exist because they are accurate.14 Often groups have real differences, and these differences are not bad or wrong; they just are. Lastly, go into all intercultural interactions with the right attitude. Knowing how eye contact functions across cultures can help you know more about how to interact with people from various cultures. For example, one popular co-cultural holiday celebrated in the United States is Cinco de Mayo. Culture Influence on Personality Identity. In an individualistic culture, there is a belief that you can do what you want and follow your passions. Why do you think context is such an important cultural characteristic? So much of mindful relationships is embodying the right attitude during our interactions with others. The term ethnocentrism can be defined as the degree to which an individual views the world from their own cultures perspective while evaluating other cultures according their own cultures preconceptions, often accompanied by feelings of dislike, mistrust, or hate for cultures deemed inferior. In this chapter, we started by discussing what the word culture means while also considering the concepts of co-culture and microcultures. We will write a custom Essay on How Does Culture Affect the Self Identity Personal Essay specifically for you. In 1952, A. L. Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions for the word culture. Culture is often described as the way we do things.1 In their book, the authors noted, Considering that concept [of culture] has had a name for less than 80 years, it is not surprising that full agreement and precision has not yet been attained.2 Kroeber and Kluckhohn predicted that eventually, science would land on a singular definition of culture as it was refined through the scientific process over time. The degree to which an individual views the world from their own cultures perspective while evaluating other cultures according to their cultures preconceptions often accompanied by feelings of dislike, mistrust, or hate for cultures deemed inferior? This book is an attempt to give an overview of how language interacts with its environment, or better, how actual linguistic structure is formed, changed and influenced by different .