Culture and the Individual Enculturation, Socialization & Personality Kimberly Porter Martin Personality -characteristics of an individual resulting from the interaction of genetics, socialization, enculturation and life experience. Personality Trait • A lasting characteristic attributed to persons in varying amounts of strength. Fiske, 1971 Anthony F.C. Wallace Societies deal with individual differences in personality in two general ways: 1. They enculturate and socialize children, shaping them to suit cultural expectations 2. They provide alternative roles that accommodate different personalities Enculturation Vs. Social Stratification The Enculturation, Socialization and Personality PowerPoint ( this one!) focuses on enculturation and socialization of individuals to try to shape them to cultural ideals. The Social Stratification and Personality PowerPoint will deal with how society shapes personality and the kinds of roles it provides for individuals with different personalities. Personality Models • Measures of personality are based on models of the range of and importance of specific personality traits. • Studying measures gives us insight about the emic views of the culture in which the measures were. The Big Questions • To what extent • If some personality are we using traits are completely ethnocentric outside the experience measures? of the researcher, – How will the researcher • To what extent know what to look for? are we – How will the researcher measuring know how to measure ethnocentric them? concepts. Big Five Personality Model Western Culture’s Big Five • The Five Factor Model (FFM) – Conscientiousness • Persistence and reliability • Goal directedness http://www.personalitytest.net/c – Agreeableness gi-bin/ipipneo1.cgip:// • Compassion, warmth • Gentle and sensitive – Openness to Experience • Curiosity and imagination – Extraversion • Positive attitude • Seeks stimulating social interaction – Neuroticism • Emotional instability • Anxiety and hostility Kagitcibasi’s Three Family Styles Independent family » Afluent, educated, middle class » Nuclear family units » Smaller families » Independence, self-sufficiency, uniqueness training Interdependent family » Agrarian, » Children help w/ subsistence, care for aging parents » Intergenerational closeness, extended families » Obedience training Psychological interdepence family » Emotional interdependence between family members » Socialized for family loyalties » Childrearing for a combination of autonomy within the context of family loyalty » Compromise between the other styles Eysenck Personality Model (EPQ) Western Culture • Three qualities: 1. psychoticism* 2. extroversion 3. neuroticism Psychoticism = aggression and interpersonal hostility. Predisposes for mental illness/schizophrenia. Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory (CPAI) • Added a sixth dimension to the Big Five: – Interpersonal Relatedness (importance of harmony, face and relationship orientation) • Openness dimension missing from CPAI – Interpersonal Relatedness (importance of harmony, face and relationship orientation) Found in China, Hawaii and Singapore. Western “blind spot” with regard to personality traits Variability in Scale Results • • • • Locally derived measures are better Some traits overlap, but not predictable Sometimes traits dropped or added Other times blended into different variations Examples of Indigenous Personality Models Ubuntu – Africa – “a person is a person through other persons” •Senegal – three layers of a person: 1.shell (body) 2.physiological functioning 3.psychological existence 4.spiritual existence Sow’s African Model Indian Jiva Personality Model Examples of Indigenous Personality Models • Japanese Amae = passive love and dependence as an infant has for its mother. • Permeates Japanese culture throughout the lifespan. • Creates an expectation of passive connection to all others in the group. • Concealed amae leads to mental illness. Examples of Indigenous Personality Models • Bambara – A symbolic system – Person is not separate from spirit world, human community and/or ecological context. – Sixty dimensions or elements in pairs, one male and one female. • Thought-reflection • Speech-authority • Future-destiny Value Systems • Kluckhohn and Strodbeck • Hofstede • Locus of Control Kluckhohn & Strodbeck’s Values Matrix (Item Examples) Culture Type 1 Culture Type 2 Culture Type 3 The Innate Nature of Humans Most people can’t be trusted. There are both good and evil people in the world and you have to check people out to find out which they are. Most people are basically pretty good at heart. The Human Relationship to Nature Life is largely determined by external forces, such as God fate or genetics. A person can’t surpass the conditions life has set. Humans should, in every way, live in harmony with nature. The human challenge is to conquer and control nature. Everything from air conditioning to the green revolution has resulted from our having met this challenge. Time Orientation Humans should learn from history and attempt to emulate the glorious ages of the past. The present moment is everything. Lets make the most of it. Don’t worry about tomorrow. Enjoy today. Planning and goal setting make it possible for humans to accomplish miracles. A little sacrifice today will bring a better tomorrow. Modality of Human Activity It is enough to just be. Its not necessary to accomplish great things in life to feel your life has been worthwhile The human purpose for being placed on this earth is for our own inner development. If people work hard and apply themselves fully, their efforts will be rewarded. Human’s Relationship to Others Some people are born to lead others. There are “leaders” and “followers” in this world. Whenever I have a serious problem, I like to get the advice of my family or close friends in how best to solve it. All people should have equal rights, and we should all have complete control over our own destiny. Kluckhohn & Strodbeck’s Values Matrix (Core Value) Culture Type 1 Culture Type 2 Culture Type 3 The Innate Nature of Humans People are inherently evil. People are a mixture of good and evil. People are inherently good. The Human Relationship to Nature Humans are subjugated to nature. Humans should live in harmony with nature Humans should dominate nature Time Orientation Past oriented. Present oriented. Future oriented. Modality of Human Activity Being. Becoming. Doing. Lineal/hierarchical relationships predominate. Collateral relationships predominate. Individualism is more important than relationships. Human’s Relationship to Others Hofstede’s Value Dimensions • 1. POWER DISTANCE • The degree of inequality between a less powerful person and a more powerful other (Mulder 1977). • The distance at which boss/supervisor and employee comfortably function within a given society. • The boss's style of decision making along with employees level of fear about disagreeing with superiors. Hofstede’s Value Dimensions • 2. UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE • The tolerance for uncertainty in a society, coped with in society by technology, law and religion, and in organizations by technology, rules and rituals. Hofstede’s Value Dimensions • 3. INDIVIDUALISM • The relationship between the individual and the collectivity in which prevails in a given society. • The degree to which the individual is valued over the group, or the group is valued over the individual. Hofstede’s Value Dimensions • 4. MASCULINITY • The degree to which a society focuses on assertion and competition as opposed to nurturance and the development and maintenance of relationships. Locus of Control • Who or what controls your life? – External = outside forces that you do not control or influence – Internal = you are empowered to make changes and choices in your life. You have control of your own life.
