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Personality is more than just genes.

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A large part of who we are and the decisions that we

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make are influenced by the culture that we grew up in.

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So, where does this influence start?

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Think all the way back to when you learn manners.

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You were probably scolded for engaging in behavior

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that was considered rude in your culture.

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Conversely,

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you're probably encouraged to engage in behaviors

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that are considered to be polite.

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Now, as you were conditioned to engage in more polite behaviors,

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you subconsciously picked up on patterns that influenced how you behave.

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These patterns are highly influenced by the values of the culture

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that you grew up in. But not all cultures hold the same values.

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Some cultures tend to encourage behaviors that are loud,

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boisterous, and competitive.

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Others encourage quiet,

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respectful, and more humble behaviors. Depending on the culture where you live,

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you probably pick up on these values,

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and they have definitely influenced your decisions

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and your personality.

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Researchers have been studying the connections between culture and

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personality for a long time. And in this video,

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I'm gonna attempt to explain two spectrums

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that researchers have created to define cultures.

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The culture's place on these spectrums highly influences the personality

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traits and the behaviors of the people within that culture.

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So, culture is not determined by borders.

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As you'll see throughout the rest of this video,

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people learn lessons from cultures that are created

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from people within a certain country occupation,

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class, gender identity, or other differences.

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For example,

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just because the country you live in has an individualist

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culture does not mean you are bound by individualist ideas.

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So, keep this in mind throughout the rest of the video.

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Let's get started by talking about individual versus collectivist culture.

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Individualism focuses on the individual just as the name implies.

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People living in an individualist environment,

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prioritize self-improvement of themselves and satisfying their own

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needs before the rest of those of their community.

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Why?

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Well,

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individualist cultures believe and teach that

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if everyone takes care of themselves,

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then the entire group should thrive and then become self-sufficient.

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Individualist cultures put a lot of stress on independence and self-reliance.

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Those that live in this type of culture tend to be very self-sufficient

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and driven workers, but are weaker whenever it comes to collaboration and teamwork.

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They usually struggle handing off responsibility.

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Now, in general,

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these people usually distance themselves psychologically

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and emotionally from one another,

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since working with others is more of an option

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than a requirement for success. In the media,

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we often see individualist characteristics associated with men,

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people in urban settings, and the Western culture.

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So, what about collectivist cultures?

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People living in a collectivist environment are taught to focus on the

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needs of the group before they focus on their own individual needs.

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They associate their identity to the role and function in a larger group.

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These groups can include family, teams at work, or the entire nation.

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Collectivist societies teach people that everyone will benefit when

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they start to look out for one another.

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Harmony and interdependence between group members is highly

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valued among people in this type of environment.

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Now, unlike their individualist counterparts,

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members of collectivist cultures tend to be extremely

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close to each other psychologically and emotionally.

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Now,

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this can create an us versus the mindset that separates or

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looks down upon people that are outside of their group.

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Collectivist characteristics are generally associated with women,

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people in rural settings, and Eastern culture.

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So, let's look at another spectrum.

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Did you grow up in an approach or an avoidance culture?

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This idea was coined in 1935 to help psychologists

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identify what makes some conflicts easy to resolve and

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others difficult to resolve. Where you lie on this

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spectrum can highly influence how you make decisions.

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So, what is approach versus avoidance?

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Humans typically want to approach and move towards pleasurable things, and they

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typically want to avoid and move away from negative or painful things.

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It's very similar to Freud's pleasure-pain

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principle.

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The idea of approach versus avoidance was

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measured when an experiment was conducted on

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rats in 1948. The rats were exposed to different positive and negative stimuli.

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Researchers then measure the strength of their pull towards the stimuli.

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The most interesting results from this experiment revealed that the closer the

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rats were to the item that they were either approaching or avoiding,

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the stronger their pull was in either direction.

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Now,

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this can be applied to humans and how

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they make their decisions and categorize conflict.

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But what does it have to do with the culture where you grew up with?

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Because that's kind of the topic of this video, right? The

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culture helps to teach you at a young age what to approach and what

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to avoid. Culture doesn't teach you to avoid physical pain and approach food.

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Those things are instinctual to all humans.

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The things we learn to approach and avoid through culture, appeal to a higher need.

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One example of this is something called uncertainty avoidance.

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The uncertainty

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avoidance of a culture is a measure of

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how that culture responds to novelty and uncertainty.

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How does a culture deal with ambiguity? Are changes welcome in the

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nation? Does the culture approach stable traditional rules and customs?

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Now, in some research,

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I found that countries who generally score high

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in neuroticism tend to be high in uncertainty

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avoidance.

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Those countries usually have a more formal system of rules that try to

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minimize cultural or situational ambiguity, and the

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citizens are uninterested in changing them.

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These cultures tend to be more conservative,

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more emotional, and usually xenophobic. Families in these cultures

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tend to have more traditional gender roles too.

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Schools have more structured learning, and children are taught to

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trust that their teachers have all of the answers.

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Children are also taught that the outside world may be a hostile place.

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Religions associated with the uncertainty avoidance include Catholicism,

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Islam, Judaism, and Shintoism.

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Conversely,

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countries low in neuroticism and low in uncertainty avoidance tend to have fewer

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laws and regulations and their citizens are much more interested in politics.

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These cultures are often more open to change and more tolerant of diversity.

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And people within these cultures tend to suppress their emotions

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more. Families in these cultures usually have looser general roles and

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their schools have a more open-minded learning. As a generality,

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teachers are allowed to say that they don't know

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and students are encouraged to question authority.

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Children are also taught that the outside world is benevolent and

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that they should not persecute others based on their beliefs.

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Religions associated with low uncertainty avoidance include protestantism,

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Buddhism, Taoism, and Hinduism.

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So, where do you fit in? Uncertainty

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avoidance is just one concept that is influenced by a culture's personality and

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how it influences the decisions and behaviors of the people within that culture.

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What were you taught to avoid? What were you taught to approach?

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And how does the culture where you grew up in

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influence what you consider to be comfortable and uncomfortable?

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I hope you guys enjoyed this video, and if you did, feel free to watch some of the

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other videos in this personality series. And if you

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want to learn more about your own personality,

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check on my free three in one personality quiz in the description below.

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What it does is it combines three of the major personality quizzes into just one

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test you can take in under 10 minutes, and at the end of it,

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I'm gonna try to predict some things about you, like your political stances,

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your relationship style, and also your health.

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I put a lot of work into it. So, I hope you guys enjoy it.

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Thanks for watching, and I hope to see you in the next video.