Title: Does culture affect our personality? - Individual Traits and Culture
Headings: Does Culture Affect our Personality?
Does Culture Affect our Personality?
Personality: Boas and Benedict
Personality: Margaret Mead
Sex, Differences and Personality
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Content: Psychodynamic Theories
Behaviourism
Trait Theory
Social Cognitive Theories
Humanistic Perspective
Browse Full Outline
1 Personality: From the Inside Out
2 The Biology of Personality
3 Type Theory
4 Psychodynamic Theories
5 Behaviourism
6 Humanistic Perspective
7 Trait Theory
8 Social Cognitive Theories
9 Culture
10 Assessment Tools
1 Personality: From the Inside Out 2 The Biology of Personality 3 Type Theory 4 Psychodynamic Theories 5 Behaviourism 6 Humanistic Perspective 7 Trait Theory 8 Social Cognitive Theories 9 Culture 10 Assessment Tools
Personality: Boas and Benedict
According to Franz Boas, pioneer of Psychological Anthropology or the study of the relationship between culture and personality, personality is obtained thru culture and not biology. His theory called Cultural Relativism gives a comprehensive understanding of the underlying relationship between culture and personality. Boas' student Ruth Benedict expounded the research on the effect of culture to personality through studying cultural various patterns and themes. Although she admitted that the global cultural diffusion has made the cultural patterns of civilized societies are difficult to trace, primitive societies located at the remote areas have preserved their shared personalities through their values, beliefs and rituals. When Benedict wrote her book Patterns of Culture, she mentioned her comparison of the cultural patterns of two different northern American Indian groups as well as an Indian group located off-coast of Papua New Guinea. In her study, she found out that although they are from similar genetic collection, these groups have significant differences in their respective value systems. For instance, one tribe's idea of a ""good man"" differentiates to that of another.