Title: Influences of Culture and Gender on Personality
Headings: Influences of Culture and Gender on Personality
Influences of Culture and Gender on Personality
Both culture and gender are important factors that influence the development of personality.
Learning Objective
Key Points
Terms
Full Text
Culture and Personality
Gender and Personality
Influence of gender roles on personality expression
Approaches to Studying Personality in a Cultural Context
Allport's, Cattell's, and Eysenck's Trait Theories of Personality

Content: Culture is transmitted to people through language as well as through the modeling of behavior, and it defines which traits and behaviors are considered important, desirable, or undesirable. Within a culture there are norms and behavioral expectations. These cultural norms can dictate which personality traits are considered important. The researcher Gordon Allport considered culture to be an important influence on traits and defined common traits as those that are recognized within a culture. These traits may vary from culture to culture based on differing values, needs, and beliefs. Positive and negative traits can be determined by cultural expectations: what is considered a positive trait in one culture may be considered negative in another, thus resulting in different expressions of personality across cultures. Considering cultural influences on personality is important because Western ideas and theories are not necessarily applicable to other cultures (Benet-Martinez & Oishi, 2008). There is a great deal of evidence that the strength of personality traits varies across cultures, and this is especially true when comparing individualist cultures (such as European, North American, and Australian cultures) and collectivist cultures (such as Asian, African, and South American cultures). People who live in individualist cultures tend to believe that independence, competition, and personal achievement are important.