environmental factors that influence our cultural identity environmental factors that influence our cultural identity

The people that they surround themselves with influences their values and beliefs. Instructions: Read the following questions and select the answer that corresponds with your perception. All of us live in a world where we are raised in a dominant culture. _____7. Summarize the implications of ethnocentrism in interpersonal communication. Third, figure out where that stereotype came from. Continuing in this tradition are current investigations into the roles of pollutants and other aspects of the human-made environment in affecting patterns of human growth and development, specifically the timing of sexual maturation and the development of obesity. Lets look at a real stereotype that plays out. Furthermore, there can be two distinctly different types of stereotypes that people hold: cultural and personal. Religion and religious faiths that is beliefs. Lien is both a social sanction for enforcing moral standards and an internalized sanction.41 On the other hand, mien-tzu stands for the kind of prestige that is emphasized in this country [America]: a reputation achieved through getting on in life, through success and ostentation.42 However, David Yau-fai Ho argues that face is more complicated than just lien and mien-tzu, so he provided the following definition: Face is the respectability and/or deference which a person can claim for himself from others, by virtue of the relative position he occupies in his social network and the degree to which he is judged to have functioned adequately in that position as well as acceptably in his general conduct; the face extended to a person by others is a function of the degree of congruence between judgments of his total condition in life, including his actions as well as those of people closely associated with him, and the social expectations that others have placed upon him. At the same time, you may have found the one resident of the Republic of Kiribati who doesnt like football. How do you view this group in all four types of esteem: private collective, membership, public collective, and importance to identity? I enjoy being with people from other cultures and getting to know them. 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. However, more people in North and South America do not speak English when compared to those who do. 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. Definition Cultural identity is the sense of belonging towards a culture. _____2. Overall, the goal of mindful intercultural interactions is to be present in the moment in a nonjudgmental way. Kelly spoke with Kim Wasserman and Juliana Pino of the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO). Perhaps you live in a dorm that is allegedly haunted. The standing or position a person has in the eyes of others. Households in the second quintile had incomes between $20,600 and $39,764, those in the third quintile had incomes between $39,765 and $64,582, and those in the fourth quintile had incomes between $64,583 and $104,096. Instead, El Grito de la Indepedencia (The Cry of Independence) is held annually on September 16 in honor of Mexican Independence from Spain in 1810. I know about other cultures religious beliefs and values. The degree to which an individual is consciously aware of their intercultural interactions in a manner that helps them have more effective interpersonal experiences with people from differing cultures. The terms low-context culture (LCC) and high-context culture (HCC) were created by Hall to describe how communication styles differ across cultures. Environmental factors often influence traits independently of genes. One of our coauthors favorite examples of the problem of ethnocentrism comes from the MTV television show Road Rules: The Quest. As you can imagine, an individual who is a member of a group that is generally looked down upon by society will have a constant battle internally as they battle these negative emotions and subsequent lower self-evaluations because of membership within a cultural group. 2.Cultural Factors With the onset of globalisation, a larger proportion of the students are moving across border for international higher education. Cultures that interpret meaning by relying more on nonverbal context or behavior than on verbal symbols in communication. The final part of the definition of culture, and probably the most important for our purposes, looking at interpersonal communication, is that these beliefs, values, norms, and rules will govern how people behave. Explicit guidelines (generally written down) that govern acceptable or proper social behavior within a specific culture. 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. Was this interpersonal interaction appropriate? Thirteen countries meet this designation: Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Iran, Ireland, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Saudi Arabia, the UK, and the United States. Shareholders and owners. Lastly, go into all intercultural interactions with the right attitude. This factor is difficult to quantify rigorously, but the authors have shown how cultural attitudes may be directly related to a countrys overall ecological efficiency. An additional variable is used to describe the effect of a countrys greenhouse gas production on environmental valuation, placing value on a pollutant-free environment. Over time, you start to find yourself wondering about the organization and your place within the organization. So, within these cultures, martyrdom is something that is valued. Compare and contrast two countries and their levels of context. The term America is thought to have been a mistake made by a cartographer in 1507 named Martin Waldseemller, a cleric in the cathedral village of St.-Di, France. Stereotypes cause problems because people use them to categorize people in snap judgments based on only group membership. September 12, 2022 by Alexander Johnson. Maybe you live in a dorm that specializes in honors students or pairs U.S. students with international students. But this asymmetry toward industrialized. Listed below are the environmental factors that influence our cultural identity. Define the term stereotype and explain its implications for interpersonal communication. 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. What could you do at that point to help rebuild that persons face? Cultural stereotypes are beliefs possessed by a larger cultural group about another social group, whereas personal stereotypes are those held by an individual and do not reflect a shared belief with their cultural group(s). Attitude and Behaviours Influenced by Ones Culture: 1. The first of Geert Hofstedes original dimensions of national cultures was power distance, or the degree to which those people and organizations with less power within a culture accept and expect that power is unequally distributed within their culture. Geert Hofstedes research created a taxonomy for understanding and differentiating cultures. In the most recent version of her theory, Stella Ting-Toomey outlines seven basic factors of face-negotiation theory: First and foremost, communication and face are highly intertwined concepts, so when coming to an intercultural encounter, it is important to remember the interrelationship between the two. According to a 2013 report from the U.S. Census department (using income data from 2012), here is how income inequality in the U.S. looks: Households in the lowest quintile had incomes of $20,599 or less in 2012. Enter your email address to subscribe to CPR. _____3. 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. However, that may not be the only intention we have when interacting with someone from another culture. The next category identified by Hofstede involves the concept of uncertainty avoidance.30 Life is full of uncertainty. For this reason, we often also examine microcultures that can exist in organizational settings. The concept of face is especially problematic in emotionally vulnerable situations (such as embarrassment, request, or conflict situations) when the situation identities of the communicators are called into question. Face gaining refers to the strategies a person might use to build their reputation and feelings of prestige (e.g., talking about accomplishments, active social media presence, etc. The degree to which an individual desires to engage in intercultural interactions and can easily adapt to differing cultural environments. When it came to trait affection given, the United States participants reported giving more affection than any of the three other countries. _____4. It is formed by the union of sperm and ovum. However, if the person comes back and says, I really dont care. Theory Tasks. Cultural intelligence involves the degree to which an individual can communicate competently in varying cultural situations. At the long-term end of the spectrum are countries like China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan; whereas, countries like Pakistan, Czech Republic, Nigeria, Spain, and the Philippines are examples of short-term. High avoidance societies fight uncertainty with many precise laws and rules and generally repress citizen protest. As such, we must always be careful to avoid generalizing about individuals because of the co-cultures they belong to. One of the biggest misunderstandings new people studying culture have is that an individual can have their own personalized culture. One kind of determinant of health is what is in our genes and our biology. Lastly, we have microcultures or cultural patterns of behavior influenced by cultural beliefs, values, norms, and rules based on a specific locality or within an organization. OK, now picture someone named Hillary. What culture we pick up is ultimately a matter of the group(s) we are born into and raised. Biological factors that may influence gender identity include pre- and post-natal hormone levels and genetic makeup. As a transgendered individual, Melanie realizes that many people in her dominant culture do not understand, agree with, nor support transgendered individuals and causes. Identify several different ways to create better intercultural interactions. 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. The basic idea that ones culture provides the rules, regulations, and norms that govern a culture and how people act with other members of that society. Social factors include ideas regarding gender roles conveyed by family, authority figures, mass media, and other influential people in a child's life. The first factor of collective self-esteem is the individuals private collective esteem, or the degree to which an individual positively evaluates their group. Individuals and groups move about, in . Some cultures are widespread, and have a large number of people who associate themselves with those particular values, beliefs, and origins. Unfortunately, the idea of a single definition of culture is no closer to becoming a reality today than it was in 1952.3. 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. Face is the standing or position a person has in the eyes of others. The final factor of collective self-esteem is importance to identity, or the degree to which group membership is important to an individual. Make a list of five co-cultural groups that you currently belong to. Notice that the U.S. does not make it into the top five or the bottom five. Interpersonally, stereotypes become problematic because we often filter how we approach and communicate with people from different cultures because of the stereotypes we possess. This definition is a bit complex, so lets break it down. An increasing regression line is evidence of a favorable cultural effect on a countrys eco-efficiency levels, while a decreasing regression line is evidence of the opposite. In one episode, one of the contestants, Ellen, is walking around in Marrakech, Morocco, wearing very short shorts. Maybe you immediately think of going to the ballet, an opera, or an art museum. Children often struggle with being 'between cultures . One myth among the Tibetan people is that they owe their existence to the union of an ogress, not of this world, and a monkey on Gangpo Ri Mountain at Tsetang. Households in the highest quintile had incomes of $104,097 or more. When Im interacting with someone from a differing culture, I know when I use my knowledge of that persons culture during my interactions. We often refer to microcultures as local cultures because they do tend to exist among a small segment of people within a specific geographical location. Still, they illustrate the importance of knowing and understanding gestures in differing cultures because we do not all interpret nonverbal behavior the same way. The Mind in the World: Culture and the Brain. This means students who have purchased a Premium Subscription will now be offered complimentary support in our Student Forums by us. The term "environment" also serves to group together diverse considerations, including biological and physical factors, both in the intra-uterine environment and after birth, as well as social environment including family environment, various kinds of life events, and experiences in the wider world. 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. A microculture, sometimes called a local culture, refers to cultural patterns of behavior influenced by cultural beliefs, values, norms, and rules based on a specific locality or within an organization. Environmental psychologists realize that to change behavior and attitudes towards the environment, scientists and policymakers must understand people's personalities. Furthermore, there tend to be higher levels of prejudice and higher levels of ideological, political, and religious fundamentalism, which does not allow for any kind of debate. Heres another interesting fact. Noting that eco-efficient countries like Kuwait and Austria have the highest levels of fluctuation between cultural factors, it is apparent that not all cultural variables affect countries uniformly. You may be wondering how this ultimately impacts interpersonal communication. However, many also hold the stereotype that flight attendants are all young. Question 4 Explain the term 'cultural responsivity'. The authors examine the relationship between emissions of two major greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide) and four of the most widely recognized facets of culture: masculinity versus femininity, power distance, individualism versus collectivism, and uncertainty avoidance. Experts in the new area of evidence-based design have identified five environmental factors that can have a large impact on health outcomes. Unlike genetic changes, epigenetic changes are reversible and do not change your DNA sequence, but they can change how your body reads a DNA sequence. When it comes to power distances, these differences often manifest themselves in many ways within a singular culture: class, education, occupations, and health care. We can often make these determinations by talking to the other person. And many hospitals and healthcare settings are applying these findings. How does each of these different co-cultural groups influence who you are as a person? Some groups we hold tightly to, while we only see ourselves as peripherally associated with others. The United States is number one on individualism, according to Hofstedes data.27 Americans are considered individualistic. However, U.S. citizens have clung to the title American without ever giving thought to those other countries that exist on these two continents. Cultural geography is the study of cultural components and how they relate to the geography of the places where people live and travel. Femininity, on the other hand, involves characteristics like having a good working relationship with ones manager and coworkers, cooperating with people at work, and security (both job and familial). 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. Please take a second and complete their measure: James L. Mason created a cultural competence tool for service agencies (. If we have stereotypes about another a specific culture, its important to recognize those stereotypes, call them out, understand where they came from in the first place, and examine them for factualness. Its not uncommon for different dorms on campus to develop their own unique cultures that are distinct from other dorms. The degree to which an individual positively evaluates their group. Work Cited. Next, within the definition of culture are the concepts of norms and rules. Stereotypes are beliefs that we hold about a person because of their membership in a specific cultural group. One big mistake many U.S. citizens make is assuming Cinco de Mayo is Mexican Independence Day, which it is not. Uncertainty avoidance then involves the extent to which cultures as a whole are fearful of ambiguous and unknown situations. People tend to make decisions in a manner that conforms with culturally mediated beliefs about morality. Co-cultures bring their unique sense of history and purpose within a larger culture. For example, maybe you belong to the Yellow culture and perceive all members of the Purple culture as lazy. It is because the culture is the people's way of life. The college marching band provides students with opportunities that foster student development, defined as the personal growth and identity development of students due to environmental factors in higher education. _____16. Cultural patterns of behavior influenced by cultural beliefs, values, norms, and rules based on a specific locality or within an organization. If you ended up leaving the south and moving to Oregon, this southerner label may take on even more meaning for you and become an even stronger identity marker because your immediate cultural group no longer surrounds you. Though highly accessible to policymakers and scientists, EPIs are commonly criticized as only being of use with uniformly distributed data (i.e. In that one moment, you learned a tiny bit about an entire country and pocketed it away for future use. Every one of us has grown up in a unique cultural environment, and this culture has impacted how we communicate. Important and lasting principles or standards held by a culture about desirable and appropriate courses of action or outcomes. Explain the importance of cultural intelligence. As discussed in Chapter 1, Shauna Shapiro and Linda Carlson introduced us to the three-component model of mindfulness: attention, intention, and attitude.49. Sometimes its easy to figure out where our stereotypes evolved from, but sometimes these stereotypes are so ingrained in us through our own culture that its hard to really figure out their origin. Chances are, youve probably never heard of the Republic of Kiribati, but its a real country in Oceania. For example, an invitation to a party would be addressed to Mr. These frontiers analyze broad relationships between given inputs and outputs that serve as proxies for some societal phenomenon: in this case, environmental performance based on pollution. The Chicago Policy Review is committed to advancing policy research and scholarship. As a result of being raised in a specific dominant culture, we tend to judge other cultures based on what weve been taught within our own cultures. It increases when a group migrates to and incorporates components of a new culture into their culture of origin. Culture and the Environment: How Cultural Values Influence Global Ecologic Practices, 2013 study by economists George Halkos and Nickolaos Tzeremes in the, Interview: Kim Wasserman and Juliana Pino of the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, Dispelling the Myth: Why State Tax Breaks for Businesses Do Not Spur Economic Growth, Impact of Disproportionate Air Pollution and Heat Exposure on Pregnancy. When thinking about your own intercultural relationships, some ways to have more rewarding intercultural relationships can include: understanding your own culture better, being interested in other people and their cultures, respecting other peoples cultures, becoming culturally intelligent, tolerating ambiguity during interactions, being aware of and overcoming your own ethnocentrism, and being a good example of your own culture. As such, we must always be learning about cultures but also be ready to adjust our knowledge about people and their cultures through our interactions with them. Cultural values influence a myriad of topicseducation, wealth distribution, government oversightbut the extent to which these values influence environmental attitudes is not well documented. What influences gender identity? They may have their own exclusive stories, histories, mascots, and specializations. Sometimes the environment changes a geneeither its DNA sequence or its activity level. In masculine cultures, women are the caretakers of the home, while men are to be healthy and wealthy. Similarly, trait affection received was significantly associated with the individualism-collectivism and uncertainty avoidance dimensions of cultures.36, Mansson, D. H., & Sigurardttir, A. G. (2017). ADVERTISEMENTS: 6. As such, facework should be viewed as a necessary component for understanding any form of interpersonal interaction but is especially important when examining interpersonal interactions that occur between people from differing cultural backgrounds. out that we humans shape our environment and, hence, it could be said that the human brain shapes itself to a human-made environment. Figure 2.4. African Americans; Bisexuals, Gays, and Lesbians; Irish Americans, Southerners are all examples of what? . Most Asian countries are considered collectivistic cultures because these cultures tend to be group-focused. Think about ethnocentrism in your own life. When looking at this definition, its important first to highlight that different cultures have different perceptions related to both courses of action or outcomes. These different myths lead to very different views of the individuals relationship with both the world and with their God, gods, or goddesses.