The Impact of Culture on Perception and Behavior - Essay Example

The Impact of Culture on Perception and Behavior The Impact of Culture on Perception and Behavior Introduction Culture and personality are significant factors in that contribute to the differences in people’s attitudes and behavior. Studying other cultures may help in learning the degree in which one’s culture impacts beliefs, worldviews, perceptions and determining the level of behavior that is innate to a particular culture. It is undeniable that even things that are considered fairly fundamental such as sexual attraction and beauty are viewed differently, in different cultures, depending on their traditional perception, thus indicating great divergence even in simple matters. Culture plays a significant role throughout life and expresses itself in everyone’s life in multiple forms such as perception and behavior. Thus, the beliefs and norms that people learn from their culture are the basis of their perception and behavior and contribute to the differences in human behavior in the context of their environment. Perceptions Values and beliefs that humans learn from their culture “serve as norms” based on which they determine which behavior is appropriate while interacting with others in a social context (Zimbroff, 2007, 1311). Thus, it transpires that perceptions are affected by many things rooted in culture because culture provides structure and guidelines deemed significant in understanding and interpreting behaviors. According to Burton (2007), emotions influence people’s perceptions differently depending on the surrounding society’s perception as explained by the two theories of social perception. The two theories are attribution theory that focuses on causes of action and social comparison theory that elucidates the notion of people comparing themselves with others (Thomas & Inkson, 2009). Another important issue to note is that there are cultural differences in social consequences and that cultural script determines how emotions should be experienced either positively or negatively (Burton, 2007). For instance, while the dominant social script in Western culture encourages positive emotions China lays emphasis on dialectical thinking and balancing positive and negative emotions. 3. Culture vs. Interaction Culture exercises significant influence in how people in a country interact with foreigners and the difference can be easily noticed when they meet for the first time. Culture can shape the way some people see the world because it sculptures the brain. In China, culture is more interdependent while the American culture tends to be independent (Liu, Wang & Leach, 2012). Chinese people spend most of their time monitoring the environment and others while Westerners concentrate on self and central objects (Briley, 2007). Some cultures, such as the Chinese culture, are less individual oriented than American culture. Therefore, Chinese and Westerners are reported to respond differently to visual stimuli and behaviors. Neurological differences between any two different cultures may be evident in the way people from those cultures respond to visual stimuli. Difference in response to visual stimuli between the Chinese and Western people may be attributed to neurological differences between the two cultures. Briley (2007) explains that activity level in certain parts of the brain differs between the two cultures especially when it comes to processing visual stimuli. For instance, it is reported that the part of brain involved in object processing than that of Chinese whose active region is that which processes background information. Thus, it becomes evident that culture exercises a significant influence on the way people “think about and perceive” various aspects of their social environment and interaction with others (Maddux, 2006, p.670). 4. Culture vs. Language In addition, difference in cultural background plays a major role in judgments and decision making among individuals. Subsequent behaviors of most people rely on their cultural background, for instance, positive outcome of a decision tend to affect Americans while Chinese are influenced by negative outcome of a decision (Liu, Wang & Leach, 2012). Chinese tend to concentrate on prevention measures and always try to compromise or seek moderation. Situational factors can therefore be said to determine how culture influences behavior (Briley, 2007). Chinese are always “prevention” focused when making any decision especially when their cultural identity is impressed upon them and that even different languages activate cultural norms associated with the language in question. There are several examples that can affirm that different languages activate cultural norms associated with the language in question. For instance, while using Chinese language, Chinese always engage in a more cautious behavior when communicating because preventing information in a given language activates expectations and perceptions of norms and values guiding decisions. According to Briley (2007), people always conform to what they deem as a socially desirable behavior although the perception disappears when one is asked to think carefully about personal judgments instead of cultural norms and values. Effects of cultural norms and values on processing information depend on the situational factors and the way the situations trigger the applicable norms and values. On the other hand, perceptions in humans are created through communication, using the medium of language in their culture. Thus, language also plays a critical role in how people obtain and assimilate information about the values, ethics and standards of conduct. 5. Culture vs. Perception American’s culture encourages individualism while Chinese culture promotes a collectivist attitude. In this regard, Americans are challenged in understanding other people’s point of view compared to the Chinese who are much more adept at determining other people’s perspective. Nauert (2007) asserts that American culture makes many words and actions to have multiple meanings because of faltering communication hence making it difficult to comprehend and understand what another person means (Lane et al., 2009). It is therefore apparent that not all cultures embrace the skill of appreciating other people’s perspective. For instance, members of collective cultures are normally interdependent and their self-concept is based on relationship and social relation while members of individualist culture strive for independence and their self-concept are based on their own aspirations. Different cultures see and perceive things differently because culture can shape people’s view of the world. Several studies have validated specific fundamental differences between American and Chinese cultures such as the visual interpretations of the two cultures. Evidence emerging from various studies suggests that culture influences the “perceptual processes” and, thus, how a person perceive something directly correlates to his or her cultural background (Nisbett & Miyamotto, 2005, p.472). According to Nauert (2007), people from different cultures think differently as explained by various studies such as classification and categorization that indicate that members from different cultures focus differently in social situations. Another idea that supports how culture influences perception and behavior is how language shape the way people thinks (Ishii, 2013). Languages are always dependent on some special knowledge and cultural background that affect individuals thought and perception (Lane et al., 2009). Tendency of culture shaping one’s thought and behavior does not mean that human being is born with different brain; instead, it implies that cognitive processes are indeed more malleable than most people think. Prolonged exposure to cultural influence is central in determining the way one thinks and processes information. Most studies regarding cross-cultural impact on various societies usually deal with older people who are subjected to lengthy exposure to their culture but not younger people who have less exposure and mostly identify themselves with mixed or modern culture. According to Oyedele (2009), surrounding in which an individual grows and the experiences got from the cultural background may make one undergoes cultural shock by visiting an entirely different culture. As much as there are much more to consider in defining everyone’s culture, culture shapes every individual uniquely. Psychological experiments using well-established paradigms shows that Chinese and Americans show qualitative differences in patterns of attention. People usually fail to detect huge differences between different pictures shown in succession, for instance, it is reported from findings that Chinese tend to detect changes to the background while Americans in salient objects (Oyedele, 2009). It is therefore evident that cross-cultural psychology helps to identify, describe and explain structures that determine perception of interpersonal behavior (Ishii, 2013). There are interpersonal dimensions identified across cultures and historical periods that have been conceptualized as psychological universals. Manner in which people perceive and ascribe meaning to behavior especially the way people understand the social behavior they experience. Barthelme (2009) posits that social practices are believed to influence people’s intentional patterns such as the notion that Chinese and Americans perform differently in various psychological tasks. Considering the idea related to visual attention as described in terms of holistic vs. analytic perceptual strategies, Americans tend to have quicker access to more local aspects of visual scene compared to Chinese who have better access to contextual aspects (Barthelme, 2009). However, as much as the findings are intriguing, they should not be over-interpreted because different cultures may reflect differenced in default perceptual strategy. Manipulations of interdependence influence perception and when people are primed with interdependence, they sometimes perceive more holistically (Thomas & Inkson, 2009). On the other hand, when people are primed with independence, they may perceive more analytically even though the priming effects are not always found. 6. Culture vs. Behavior Technically, cultural issues are always experienced almost everywhere in the media especially the way it influences people’s behavior. It is worth noting that culture matters on how we behave and think because of the alleged influence of culture in brain structure and functioning. Culture touches on development and social facilitation of learning which are vital in brain functioning but do not influence functional brain architecture. However, it may not be argued that culture influences all human actions and perceptions because it may sometimes glom onto the notion of cultural potency which may be devastating. According to Vognar (2012), culture is not the static storehouse of ideas people live with and therefore it should not be used to explain success and failure because it may murk more widespread and challenging factors. Culture is shaped by many circumstances and many people are trapped in their own self destructive behaviors that mold culture. Even though culture is a vital aspect in people’s lives, it should not be blamed on any wrongdoing and any form of negativity. Lane et al. (2009) explain that culture cannot be created ahead of time to create better behavior and good thought because it depends on biological and evolutionary aspects. Interestingly, evolutionary heritage is marred with aggression and violence which leaves the blame to people’s vestigial aggression (Vognar, 2012). However, culture can sometimes be thought, as scientists believe, as adaptive and thus encourage successful reproduction. This implies that culture plays a critical role in human survival. Superiority of culture therefore lies on the truest and the noblest aspects of different cultures that can benefit brain development or reproduction. It is interesting to note how culture affects individuals and people behave differently in different cultures. A person’s heredity is equally important in defining an individual’s behavior and thus it should not only be blamed on social surrounding because, after all, people do not contact culture in the same way (Oyedele, 2009). People tend to have different experiences in the world of people where even parents are considered unique as personalities. It can be argued that human behavior is influenced by both genetic inheritance and experience and the only challenge is how experience and hereditary potential interact in producing human behavior. Every person is born into a social and cultural setting which affects how people think and behave although how the setting may influence an individual is not predictable (Lane et al., 2009). Culturally induced behavior patterns are usually profoundly imbedded in human mind in such a way that they can control an individual even without being aware. 7. Conclusion In general, different cultures have certain patterns and meanings and dominant cultures’ values are normally considered correct. Social distinctions are an outstanding part in every culture and the form of distinction varies with place and time. Some of these distinctions may include tribal or hierarchies and may sometimes be associated with sub-cultural differences such as dialect recognized by all members of a society and resented by some. What constitutes acceptable human behavior varies in different cultures and from time to time where every social group has generally accepted ranges of behavior prescribed. Thus, while the basic “information-processing machinery” is the same in all humans irrespective of their culture, perceptions become modulated according to the cultural values of people from different backgrounds (Nisbett & Miyamoto, 2005, p.472). A particular behavior in one culture may be regarded unacceptable in other cultures although some kinds of behaviors such as rape and theft are unacceptable in almost all diverse cultures. Currently, growing interdependence of world social and economic systems hinders predictability of consequences of social decisions and changes in any part of the world may have amplified effects elsewhere. Thus, it transpires that culture, being “dynamic webs of meaning” people derive their shared sense of meaning from the cultural they live in right from their childhood and this formulates their perception (Maschinot, 2008, p.2). References Barthelme, S. (2009). Culture Perception. International Cognition and Culture Institute. Retrieved from http://www.cognitionandculture.net/home/blog/27-simons-blog/292-culture-and-perception Briley, D. (2007). The Effects of Culture on Decision Making and Judgment. Research Frontiers. Retrieved from http://www.ugc.edu.hk/rgc/rgcnews13/west/07.htm Burton, K. W. (2007). Cultural Experience Affects Perception. The Dana Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.dana.org/Publications/Brainwork/Details.aspx?id=43697 Ishii, K. (2013). Culture and the mode of thought: A review. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 16(2), 123-132. Lane, H. W., Maznevski, M. L., DiStefano, J. J. & Dietz, J. (2009). International management behavior: Leading with a global mindset. West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Liu, A. H., Wang, S. & Leach, M. (2012). Considering Culture to Win Back Lost Customers: Comparing Chinese and American Consumers. Journal of Consumer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction & Complaining Behavior, 25149-158. Maddux, W. W. & Yuki, M. (2006). The “Ripple Effect”: Cultural Differences in Perceptions of the Consequences of Events. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32(5), 669-683. Maschinot, B. (2008). Changing the Face of the United States: The Influence of Culture on Early Child Development. Washington, DC: Zero to Three. Retrieved from Nauert, R. (2007). Culture Influences perception. PsychCentral. Retrieved from http://psychcentral.com/news/2007/07/13/culture-influences-perception/1011.html Nisbett, R. E. & Miyamoto, Y. (2005). The Influence of Culture: Holistic versus Analytic Perception. Trends in Cognitive Science, 9(10), 467-473. Oyedele, O. (2009). How much does Culture and Lifestyle Affect Behavior. Life Paths.360. Retrieved from http://www.lifepaths360.com/index.php/how-much-does-culture-and-lifestyle-affect-behavior-2-11427/ Thomas, D. C. & Inkson, K. (2009). Cultural intelligence, living and working globally (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. Vognar, D. (2012). 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