Relationship Between Culture And Psychological Processes - Essay Example

Task Relationship between culture and psychological processes Margaret Mead is an anthropologist researched on issues concerning psychology and its relation to culture. Culture determines individual personality and, therefore, it is significant to embrace one’s culture. Different cultures have different personalities, and this also differs between males and females (Mead). People of different cultures have personalities that connect them with their culture. Some communities share the same personalities between men and women while others have different personalities among the genders. According to Mead, culture is extremely powerful and determines the fate of a person. Ruth Benedict was also a successful anthropologist who was also an instructor on anthropological studies (Benedict, 3). Both Ruth and Mead studied culture and its relation to human personality, and human sexuality. She studied different cultures and how they mould the personality of individuals, and also tried to recognize the association between psychosomatic processes, and cultural processes (Meyerowitz, 1063). These two are interrelated as they influence the emotions and cognition of human beings. Culture and personality brought about a large group of people including anthropologists and psychologists. They, however, had different views on the same topic of culture and psychological processes. While Ruth Benedict and Margaret Mead were anthropologists, Sigmund Freud was a psychoanalyst but they all joined hands in exploring culture and human personalities. Mead and Benedict shared their views that culture is responsible for individual development and emotions of cultures. Freud tried to explain that psychoanalytic theory could be used in the study of culture. It focused on child and toilet training and their influence on the development of children. Human personality is plastic according to Sigmund Freud and can be changed in any environment including culture. If somebody relocated, to another are which practice different cultural activities, he, or she will adapt be forced to that environment. Their personality will change, as well. Individual behaviors are much controlled by their minds; they are not only controlled by culture. Psychology plays a crucial role in the way an individual acts and thinks and, therefore, it is extremely vital in the studying of culture and human personalities. Both Mead and Benedict worked tirelessly in order to prove that the biological aspect of individuals did not determine the culture (Benedict, 16). This differed with Freud’s theory which explained that, both biological and psychological aspects played a role in cultural development. Race and ethnicity, according to their research do not determine the culture too. They, therefore, chose to study the relationships of the native groups because they argued that the native groups had not been exposed to modernity incredibly much. They further explained that civilization had been brought about by the contribution of many races and could not be attributed to only one race. It takes different personalities in order to build an economy, social system and also political systems. These different personalities are from different cultural organizations. Each element of culture has its own history and some cultural traits are shared among different communities (Meyerowitz, 1065). Cultural traits are not limited by boundaries and can spread to a large area. Sigmund Freud found out that personality and culture could be explained through the use of the psychoanalytical hypothesis. This included use of examinations and interviews (Meyerowitz, 1064). The views of Margaret mead and Ruth Benedict on culture and human sexuality are related to those of Sigmund Freud in such that they believe that personality changes according to the area of residence and situations. Personality traits are largely based on the surrounding environment and can be acquired by anyone. Every human being s unique in nature, and they perceive things in different ways. This is what constitutes culture and cultural traits. Ruth Benedict focused on the connection between culture and human personality while, on the other hand, Margaret Mead concentrated on explaining the association between culture and the nature of human beings. Ruth Benedict attempted to investigate the cultural practices among the people of pueblo and the communities surrounding them. She explored the value of existence by comparing the practices of different communities and their practices. Margaret Mead was also involved in the way childhood affects the personality of an adult. She compared her research on Sigmund Freud’s work on childhood and personality (Freud, 1). Both concluded that a child’s upbringing influenced the way they would behave in later stages of life. Freud believed that both cultural and biological aspects controlled the human personality. Mead, on the other hand, was trying to separate the biological aspect from the cultural aspect, and she eventually ascertained cultural patterns. She even studied the Samoans on the issue of adolescence and culture, and she found out that adolescence was a difficult stage and differed depending on the culture. She used Freud’s idea of the relationship between nature and nurture in among the Samoans. She chose to study on the culture of the Samoans because they had not experienced civilization and they practiced their culture without interruptions from the outside world. Both Freud and Mead emphasize on nurture and how it influences individual personality ((Freud, 3). Culture controls human personality. It is, however, not clear where culture originated from and how it came to influence human character. Both culture and individual personality largely depend on each other for existence. According to Sigmund Freud, children always want to emulate their parents and, therefore, end up acting and behaving like them (Freud, 12). Most of personality building is based on the family, and it has a role in making individuals with acceptable characters and behaviors in the society. According to Mead, culture is extremely significant because it expresses individuality. Civilization, on the other hand, is as a consequence of the efforts of many cultures. In relation to Freud’s civilization and its discontents, civilization is an addition to cultures and individuality. He further explains that children are born the same, but as they progress in life their ego enables them to differentiate between wrong and right. They also differentiate between the object and the subject world. Children undergo development, and it is as a result of nurturing and not nature. They progressively learn on how to behave, and this builds their personality. Sigmund Freud’s theories were unhelpful to the western culture while Margaret Mead publicized the false idea in the never-ending dynamism of human nature. Margaret mead was influenced by Sigmund Freud to write about psychological issues. Freud realized that man is influenced by comatose processes, the ‘id’, ‘ego’ and ‘superego.’ The ‘id’ consists of desire and pleasure to explore things while the ‘superego’ comprises of morality and good. The ego is part of the mind that resolves conflicts and makes decisions. When these three aspects combine, they enable the individual to act well in the society. If one of the aspects of the mind does not function well, social problems begin to arise. Personality is a person’s tendency to think in certain ways and, therefore, behave in a certain manner (Meyerowitz, 1063). Thoughts happen to revolutionize the way the public act when faced with different situations. Individuals act differently when faced with certain situations because they do not consider in the same manner. This is the same way in which cultural traits differ with an individual, and this explains their dissimilar behaviors. Cultural traits usually influence the behavior of individuals and differ from one culture to another. Mead tried to study the relationship of the body, and mind and she concluded that in order to understand human behavior, people must relate it to the size of the brain (Mead). All these individuals tried to understand the culture, and established out that it was a form of social inheritance which is approved from one generation to another. According to them culture will always remain and prevail in the world, especially through genetic inheritance. Human nature is incredibly dynamic and it is mounded from a small age, and therefore; it is culturally determined. Although Mead and Benedict concentrated more on sexuality than Freud, it was still connected to the cultural studies and research. These individuals including Freud studied the human sexuality traits among different cultures. They all embarked on a journey of studying the relationship culture had with personalities. Conversely, Freud believes that children usually hate the parent of the equivalent sex and love the opposite sex (Meyerowitz, 1067). Social patterns influence personality and helps shape the emotions and behaviors of individuals. This way they will fit in a certain society and be fruitful members. According to Freud, all individuals are the same at the time of birth, but it changes by their way of upbringing. Childrearing is different in different environments, and this is what causes changes in behavior and character traits. (Meyerowitz, 1068) Culture and behavior are extremely closely connected and influence social patterns in a society. Works Cited Benedict, Ruth. Patterns of culture. 1934. New York: mentor, pp 1-27. Mead, Margaret. Sex and temperament in three primitive societies, 1935. London: Routledge Meyerowitz, Joanne "How Common Culture Shapes the Separate Lives": Sexuality, Race, and Mid-Twentieth-Century Social Constructionist Thought. The Journal of American History, 2010. Pp 1063-1069 Freud, Sigmund, Civilization and Its Discontent.2004, Penguin books, New York. Pp 1-18 Read More