Jayda Gilles IB Psychology D1 Adami 11 Oct 2021 To what extent may globalization influence behavior? Globalization plays a major role in today's society. It is the action of interaction and integration among people of different nations. Globalization is also an affair done by international trade and investment aided by modern information technology. The world is affected by globalization every day and we don't even realize it, plus we as a society are affected mentally and physically by globalization. This is mainly because of our use of the internet which relates to social media, news, blogs, magazines, etc. The media flows across national boundaries to produce images of well-being that cannot be satisfied by national standards of living. At the same time, some countries are increasingly rejecting global identity by restricting access to social media and contact with international groups but it is not just the media but also traditional religious beliefs, modern values, society, and a person's interests that are usually the cause of globalization. According to Arnette (2002), a central psychological consequence of globalization is that it results in transformations in identity - that is, in how people think about themselves with the social environment. In Kaufman(1991) there was a study held were US women who grew up in secular Jewish homes but converted to Orthodox Judaism in their teens or early twenties. Through a series of interviews, she found that they felt that orthodox Judaism offered them a “definite place in the world.” They found the tradition and clear guidance for how to live their lives comforting. They also complained about the secular and competitive nature of modern society. It appears that their choice to join the culture of Orthodox Judaism was at least partly an attempt to reject the secular values of globalization and instead adopt religious values to provide the structure and meaning seen as necessary to build their identity. This shows how these women are switching their religion for the sake of the well-being of society. Kaufman's (1991) study in my opinion was a good study and answered some questions when it comes to globalization which is why I like this study. For Kaufman(1991) it does come with its strengths and limitations. A really good strength in the study is while the interview the women are stating how their change of religion was because of the secular and competitive nature of modern society but also because they wanted a structure for their identity. This strength shows how (going back to my statement) it is not just the media but also traditional religious beliefs, modern values, society, and a person's interests that are usually the cause of globalization. And for limitations, there would be none due to the reliability of the study and formal info. Ogihara & Uchida (2014) was a study done to see how Japanese women perform in an individualistic environment in a large company where achievement is high. The final results of this study showed that Japanese participants who were achievement-oriented scored lower on subjective well-being and had fewer close friends. The lower levels of well-being in the Japanese sample may be due to the transition that Japan is currently experiencing, where globalization is leading to a movement toward individualism in the workplace while maintaining the traditional collectivistic values in general society. This study shows that when it comes to globalization society does try to change people's day-to-day life. Ogihara & Uchida (2014) had great results and valuable points during this study along with data that is useful in the globalization theory box. But just like every study it comes with Strengths and Limitations. For this study, I think a good strength would be that they stated the number of women, what they tested on, and the results along with the outcome which showed how these women struggled to adapt to change(something they weren't used to). And this change was due to a new method used by another country that seems to be more productive. This strength shows that the media and society are mostly the cause of globalization because with those factors who would know about the other methods used in the workplace. For the limitation, it would be that they were unable to directly test the causal relationships between an individualistic orientation and a decrease in the number of close friends. But this limitation has no connection to my point of the essay. Globalization is such a broad concept that there is no knowledge of what the extent is. Globalization affects not only people's lives but behavior and we don't even realize it. Globalization is capable of changing your music taste, your friend group, your way of work, and the shows you watch. All big factors contribute to behavior. My point, in the beginning, was that traditional religious beliefs, modern values, society, and a person's interests that are usually the cause of globalization also have a lot to do with behavior and it shows the extent that Globalization can go. Along with Kaufman(1991), it shows how globalization can alter your religion, and Ogihara & Uchida (2014) it can show how globalization can also interfere with your work ethic. Globalization does affect people's traditional religious beliefs, modern values, society, and interests every day. However, when individualistic values are used by individuals in cultures that have not used the techniques to combat the effects of competition, it might have negative consequences.
