WEBVTT 00:00:00.009 --> 00:00:02.730 Personality is more than just genes. 00:00:02.740 --> 00:00:05.050 A large part of who we are and the decisions that we 00:00:05.059 --> 00:00:07.710 make are influenced by the culture that we grew up in. 00:00:07.719 --> 00:00:09.430 So, where does this influence start? 00:00:09.439 --> 00:00:11.569 Think all the way back to when you learn manners. 00:00:11.579 --> 00:00:13.960 You were probably scolded for engaging in behavior 00:00:13.970 --> 00:00:15.670 that was considered rude in your culture. 00:00:15.680 --> 00:00:16.270 Conversely, 00:00:16.280 --> 00:00:17.959 you're probably encouraged to engage in behaviors 00:00:17.969 --> 00:00:19.129 that are considered to be polite. 00:00:19.139 --> 00:00:22.510 Now, as you were conditioned to engage in more polite behaviors, 00:00:22.520 --> 00:00:26.510 you subconsciously picked up on patterns that influenced how you behave. 00:00:26.520 --> 00:00:29.329 These patterns are highly influenced by the values of the culture 00:00:29.638 --> 00:00:33.178 that you grew up in. But not all cultures hold the same values. 00:00:33.187 --> 00:00:35.888 Some cultures tend to encourage behaviors that are loud, 00:00:35.897 --> 00:00:37.228 boisterous, and competitive. 00:00:37.237 --> 00:00:38.498 Others encourage quiet, 00:00:38.507 --> 00:00:42.167 respectful, and more humble behaviors. Depending on the culture where you live, 00:00:42.178 --> 00:00:43.888 you probably pick up on these values, 00:00:43.897 --> 00:00:46.068 and they have definitely influenced your decisions 00:00:46.077 --> 00:00:47.138 and your personality. 00:00:47.147 --> 00:00:50.138 Researchers have been studying the connections between culture and 00:00:50.147 --> 00:00:52.298 personality for a long time. And in this video, 00:00:52.307 --> 00:00:54.568 I'm gonna attempt to explain two spectrums 00:00:54.577 --> 00:00:57.077 that researchers have created to define cultures. 00:00:57.088 --> 00:01:00.335 The culture's place on these spectrums highly influences the personality 00:01:00.346 --> 00:01:03.066 traits and the behaviors of the people within that culture. 00:01:03.096 --> 00:01:05.545 So, culture is not determined by borders. 00:01:05.555 --> 00:01:07.246 As you'll see throughout the rest of this video, 00:01:07.255 --> 00:01:09.846 people learn lessons from cultures that are created 00:01:09.856 --> 00:01:12.005 from people within a certain country occupation, 00:01:12.015 --> 00:01:14.325 class, gender identity, or other differences. 00:01:14.335 --> 00:01:14.966 For example, 00:01:14.975 --> 00:01:17.875 just because the country you live in has an individualist 00:01:17.886 --> 00:01:21.246 culture does not mean you are bound by individualist ideas. 00:01:21.255 --> 00:01:23.206 So, keep this in mind throughout the rest of the video. 00:01:23.216 --> 00:01:27.125 Let's get started by talking about individual versus collectivist culture. 00:01:27.136 --> 00:01:30.874 Individualism focuses on the individual just as the name implies. 00:01:30.884 --> 00:01:32.893 People living in an individualist environment, 00:01:32.903 --> 00:01:36.314 prioritize self-improvement of themselves and satisfying their own 00:01:36.323 --> 00:01:38.513 needs before the rest of those of their community. 00:01:38.524 --> 00:01:39.134 Why? 00:01:39.204 --> 00:01:39.414 Well, 00:01:39.424 --> 00:01:41.463 individualist cultures believe and teach that 00:01:41.473 --> 00:01:43.234 if everyone takes care of themselves, 00:01:43.244 --> 00:01:46.283 then the entire group should thrive and then become self-sufficient. 00:01:46.293 --> 00:01:50.274 Individualist cultures put a lot of stress on independence and self-reliance. 00:01:50.283 --> 00:01:52.984 Those that live in this type of culture tend to be very self-sufficient 00:01:52.994 --> 00:01:57.033 and driven workers, but are weaker whenever it comes to collaboration and teamwork. 00:01:57.043 --> 00:01:59.391 They usually struggle handing off responsibility. 00:01:59.402 --> 00:02:00.061 Now, in general, 00:02:00.071 --> 00:02:02.601 these people usually distance themselves psychologically 00:02:02.611 --> 00:02:04.141 and emotionally from one another, 00:02:04.152 --> 00:02:06.311 since working with others is more of an option 00:02:06.321 --> 00:02:08.501 than a requirement for success. In the media, 00:02:08.511 --> 00:02:11.662 we often see individualist characteristics associated with men, 00:02:11.671 --> 00:02:14.542 people in urban settings, and the Western culture. 00:02:14.552 --> 00:02:16.272 So, what about collectivist cultures? 00:02:16.281 --> 00:02:18.901 People living in a collectivist environment are taught to focus on the 00:02:18.912 --> 00:02:21.861 needs of the group before they focus on their own individual needs. 00:02:21.871 --> 00:02:25.382 They associate their identity to the role and function in a larger group. 00:02:25.391 --> 00:02:29.130 These groups can include family, teams at work, or the entire nation. 00:02:29.139 --> 00:02:32.369 Collectivist societies teach people that everyone will benefit when 00:02:32.380 --> 00:02:33.809 they start to look out for one another. 00:02:33.820 --> 00:02:36.919 Harmony and interdependence between group members is highly 00:02:36.929 --> 00:02:38.949 valued among people in this type of environment. 00:02:38.960 --> 00:02:41.089 Now, unlike their individualist counterparts, 00:02:41.100 --> 00:02:43.919 members of collectivist cultures tend to be extremely 00:02:43.929 --> 00:02:46.330 close to each other psychologically and emotionally. 00:02:46.339 --> 00:02:46.509 Now, 00:02:46.520 --> 00:02:49.949 this can create an us versus the mindset that separates or 00:02:49.960 --> 00:02:52.380 looks down upon people that are outside of their group. 00:02:52.389 --> 00:02:55.559 Collectivist characteristics are generally associated with women, 00:02:55.570 --> 00:02:58.007 people in rural settings, and Eastern culture. 00:02:58.018 --> 00:02:59.638 So, let's look at another spectrum. 00:02:59.647 --> 00:03:02.518 Did you grow up in an approach or an avoidance culture? 00:03:02.527 --> 00:03:06.167 This idea was coined in 1935 to help psychologists 00:03:06.177 --> 00:03:09.048 identify what makes some conflicts easy to resolve and 00:03:09.057 --> 00:03:11.598 others difficult to resolve. Where you lie on this 00:03:11.608 --> 00:03:14.188 spectrum can highly influence how you make decisions. 00:03:14.197 --> 00:03:16.537 So, what is approach versus avoidance? 00:03:16.548 --> 00:03:20.057 Humans typically want to approach and move towards pleasurable things, and they 00:03:20.067 --> 00:03:23.798 typically want to avoid and move away from negative or painful things. 00:03:23.807 --> 00:03:25.628 It's very similar to Freud's pleasure-pain 00:03:25.805 --> 00:03:26.455 principle. 00:03:26.466 --> 00:03:28.546 The idea of approach versus avoidance was 00:03:28.555 --> 00:03:30.455 measured when an experiment was conducted on 00:03:30.466 --> 00:03:34.826 rats in 1948. The rats were exposed to different positive and negative stimuli. 00:03:34.835 --> 00:03:37.985 Researchers then measure the strength of their pull towards the stimuli. 00:03:37.996 --> 00:03:40.985 The most interesting results from this experiment revealed that the closer the 00:03:40.996 --> 00:03:43.746 rats were to the item that they were either approaching or avoiding, 00:03:43.755 --> 00:03:45.925 the stronger their pull was in either direction. 00:03:45.936 --> 00:03:46.285 Now, 00:03:46.296 --> 00:03:47.906 this can be applied to humans and how 00:03:47.916 --> 00:03:50.386 they make their decisions and categorize conflict. 00:03:50.395 --> 00:03:52.936 But what does it have to do with the culture where you grew up with? 00:03:52.945 --> 00:03:54.975 Because that's kind of the topic of this video, right? The 00:03:55.113 --> 00:03:58.333 culture helps to teach you at a young age what to approach and what 00:03:58.343 --> 00:04:02.214 to avoid. Culture doesn't teach you to avoid physical pain and approach food. 00:04:02.223 --> 00:04:04.813 Those things are instinctual to all humans. 00:04:04.824 --> 00:04:08.854 The things we learn to approach and avoid through culture, appeal to a higher need. 00:04:08.863 --> 00:04:12.253 One example of this is something called uncertainty avoidance. 00:04:12.264 --> 00:04:13.253 The uncertainty 00:04:13.264 --> 00:04:15.054 avoidance of a culture is a measure of 00:04:15.063 --> 00:04:17.923 how that culture responds to novelty and uncertainty. 00:04:17.933 --> 00:04:21.003 How does a culture deal with ambiguity? Are changes welcome in the 00:04:21.014 --> 00:04:25.201 nation? Does the culture approach stable traditional rules and customs? 00:04:25.212 --> 00:04:26.361 Now, in some research, 00:04:26.372 --> 00:04:28.441 I found that countries who generally score high 00:04:28.451 --> 00:04:31.152 in neuroticism tend to be high in uncertainty 00:04:31.161 --> 00:04:31.842 avoidance. 00:04:31.851 --> 00:04:34.701 Those countries usually have a more formal system of rules that try to 00:04:34.712 --> 00:04:37.761 minimize cultural or situational ambiguity, and the 00:04:37.772 --> 00:04:39.962 citizens are uninterested in changing them. 00:04:39.971 --> 00:04:41.622 These cultures tend to be more conservative, 00:04:41.631 --> 00:04:44.842 more emotional, and usually xenophobic. Families in these cultures 00:04:44.851 --> 00:04:46.782 tend to have more traditional gender roles too. 00:04:46.791 --> 00:04:49.402 Schools have more structured learning, and children are taught to 00:04:49.411 --> 00:04:51.721 trust that their teachers have all of the answers. 00:04:51.731 --> 00:04:55.470 Children are also taught that the outside world may be a hostile place. 00:04:55.480 --> 00:04:59.369 Religions associated with the uncertainty avoidance include Catholicism, 00:04:59.380 --> 00:05:01.609 Islam, Judaism, and Shintoism. 00:05:01.640 --> 00:05:02.429 Conversely, 00:05:02.440 --> 00:05:06.429 countries low in neuroticism and low in uncertainty avoidance tend to have fewer 00:05:06.440 --> 00:05:10.350 laws and regulations and their citizens are much more interested in politics. 00:05:10.359 --> 00:05:14.230 These cultures are often more open to change and more tolerant of diversity. 00:05:14.239 --> 00:05:16.869 And people within these cultures tend to suppress their emotions 00:05:16.880 --> 00:05:19.959 more. Families in these cultures usually have looser general roles and 00:05:19.970 --> 00:05:23.190 their schools have a more open-minded learning. As a generality, 00:05:23.417 --> 00:05:24.997 teachers are allowed to say that they don't know 00:05:25.007 --> 00:05:27.157 and students are encouraged to question authority. 00:05:27.167 --> 00:05:29.678 Children are also taught that the outside world is benevolent and 00:05:29.687 --> 00:05:31.858 that they should not persecute others based on their beliefs. 00:05:31.868 --> 00:05:35.528 Religions associated with low uncertainty avoidance include protestantism, 00:05:35.537 --> 00:05:37.548 Buddhism, Taoism, and Hinduism. 00:05:37.558 --> 00:05:39.907 So, where do you fit in? Uncertainty 00:05:39.917 --> 00:05:43.657 avoidance is just one concept that is influenced by a culture's personality and 00:05:43.667 --> 00:05:47.578 how it influences the decisions and behaviors of the people within that culture. 00:05:47.588 --> 00:05:50.447 What were you taught to avoid? What were you taught to approach? 00:05:50.458 --> 00:05:52.578 And how does the culture where you grew up in 00:05:52.665 --> 00:05:55.605 influence what you consider to be comfortable and uncomfortable? 00:05:55.615 --> 00:05:58.415 I hope you guys enjoyed this video, and if you did, feel free to watch some of the 00:05:58.425 --> 00:06:00.355 other videos in this personality series. And if you 00:06:00.365 --> 00:06:02.246 want to learn more about your own personality, 00:06:02.256 --> 00:06:05.425 check on my free three in one personality quiz in the description below. 00:06:05.436 --> 00:06:09.355 What it does is it combines three of the major personality quizzes into just one 00:06:09.365 --> 00:06:11.765 test you can take in under 10 minutes, and at the end of it, 00:06:11.776 --> 00:06:14.626 I'm gonna try to predict some things about you, like your political stances, 00:06:14.635 --> 00:06:16.795 your relationship style, and also your health. 00:06:16.805 --> 00:06:19.305 I put a lot of work into it. So, I hope you guys enjoy it. 00:06:19.316 --> 00:06:21.855 Thanks for watching, and I hope to see you in the next video.