The Bases of Human Behaviour

Activity . What is Culture? In spite of the fact that culture is always with us, much confusion exists in defining culture. It is more like the notion of “energy” in physics or “group” in sociology.

Some believe that culture really exists out there, and it matters to individuals, while others believe that culture does not really exist, instead it is an idea created and shared by a group of people. The innumerable definitions of culture commonly point to some of its essential features. One is that culture includes behavioural products of others who preceded us. It indicates both substantial and abstract particulars that have prior existence in one form or another.

Thus, culture is already there as we begin life. It contains values that will be expressed and a language in which to express them. It contains a way of life that will be followed by most of us who grow up in that context. Such a conceptualisation of culture tends to place it outside the individual, but there are also treatments of culture that places it in the minds of individuals.

In the latter case, culture is identified with a historically transmitted pattern of meanings embodied in symbols. Culture provides meaning by creating significant categories like social practices (e.g., marriage) and roles (e.g., bridegroom) as well as values, beliefs and premises. As Richard Shweder put it, to learn that “a mother’s sister’s husband is an uncle”, one must somehow receive the ‘frame’ of understanding from others. Whether culture is taken as an existing reality, or as an abstraction, or both, it exerts many real influences on human behaviour.

It allows us to categorise and explain many important differences in human behaviour that were previously attributed to biological differences. Social and cultural contexts within which human development takes place vary widely over time and place. For example, some twenty years ago children in India would not have known several products that are now part of a child’s world. Similarly an Adivasi living in a remote forest or hilly area would not have a “pizza” or “sandwich” as breakfast.

In the previous paragraphs, we have made frequent use of the terms culture and society . Often they are considered to carry similar meaning. Let us note at this point that they are not the same thing. A society is a group of people who occupy a particular territory and speak a common language not generally understood by neighbouring people.

A society may or may not be a single nation, but every society has its own culture, and it is culture that shapes human behaviour from society to society. Culture is the label for all the different features that vary from society to society. It is these different features of society whose influences psychologists want to examine in their studies of human behaviour. Thus, a group of people, who manage their livelihood through hunting and gathering in forests, would present a life characterised by certain features that will not be found in a society that lives mainly on agricultural produce or wage earnings.

Cultural Transmission We have seen earlier that as human beings we are both biological and socio-cultural creatures. As biological creatures, we have certain vital needs. Their fulfilment enhances our chances of surviving. In fulfilling these needs we use most of our acquired skills.

We also have a highly developed capacity to benefit from experiences of our own and those of others. No other creature has learning capacity to the same extent as we have. No other creature has created an organised system of learning, called education, and none in this universe wants to learn as much as we do. As a result, we display many forms of behaviour that are uniquely human, and creations of what we call culture.

The processes of enculturation and socialisation make us cultural beings. E NCULTURATION Enculturation refers to all learning that takes place without direct, deliberate teaching. We learn certain ideas, concepts, and values simply because of their availability in our cultural context. For example, what is “vegetable” and what is “weed” or what is “cereal” and what is “non-cereal” is defined by what is already there, previously labelled as “vegetable” or “cereal” and agreed upon by people at large.

Such concepts are transmitted, both directly and indirectly, and are learned very well because they are an integral part of the life of a cultural group, and are never questioned. All such examples of learning are called “enculturation”. Thus, enculturation refers to all learning that occurs in human life because of its availability in our socio-cultural context. The key element of enculturation is learning by observation.

Whenever we learn any content of our society by observation, enculturation is in evidence. These contents are culturally shaped by our preceding generations. In this sense, enculturation always refers to learning something that is already available. A major part of our behaviour is the product of enculturation.

In Indian families, many complex activities, like cooking, are learned by observation. There is no prescribed curriculum and no textbook for such activities, and there is also no deliberate instruction for cooking. Although the effects of enculturation are obvious, people are generally not aware of these effects. They are also generally not aware of what is not available in the society to be learned.

This leads to an apparent paradox that people who are most thoroughly enculturated are often the least aware of their culture’s role in modeling them. S OCIALISATION Socialisation is a process by which individuals acquire knowledge, skills and dispositions, which enable them to participate as effective members of groups and society. It is a process that continues over the entire life-span, and through which one learns and develops ways of effective functioning at any stage of development. Socialisation forms the basis of social and cultural transmission from one generation to the next.

Its failure in any society may endanger the very existence of that society. The concept of socialisation suggests that all human beings are capable of a far greater repertoire of behaviours than they ever exhibit. We begin life in a particular social context, and there we learn to make certain responses and not others. The most clear example is our linguistic behaviour.

Although we can speak any language that exists in this world, we learn to speak only that language which people around us speak. Within this social context we also learn many other things (e.g., when to express emotions and when to suppress them). The probability of our behaving in a particular way is greatly affected by people who relate to us. Any one who possesses power relative to us can socialise us.

Such people are called “ socialisation agents ”. These agents include parents, teachers and other elders, who are more knowledgeable in the ways of their society. Under certain conditions, however, even our age peers can affect socialisation. The process of socialisation is not always a smooth transition between the individual and the socialisation agent.

It sometimes involves conflicts. In such situations not only are some responses punished, but some are also blocked by the behaviour of others in effective ways. At the same time, several responses need to be rewarded so that they acquire greater strength. Thus, reward and punishment serve as basic means for achieving the goals of socialisation.

In this sense, all socialisation seems to involve efforts by others to control behaviour. Socialisation although primarily consists of deliberate teaching for producing “acceptable” behaviour, the process is not unidirectional. Individuals are not only influenced by their social environment, but they also influence it. In societies that comprise many social groups, individuals may choose those to which they wish to belong.

With increased migration, individuals are not only socialised once, but are often re-socialised differently in their life-span. This process is known as acculturation which we will discuss later in this chapter. Due to the processes of enculturation and socialisation we find behavioural similarities within societies and behavioural differences across societies. Both processes involve learning from other people.

In the case of socialisation, the learning involves deliberate teaching. In the case of enculturation, teaching is not necessary for learning to take place. Enculturation means engagement of people in their culture. Since most of the learning takes place with our engagement in our culture, socialisation can be easily subsumed under the process of enculturation.

A good deal of our learning involves both enculturation and socialisation. Language learning is a good example. While a lot of language learning takes place spontaneously, there is also certain amount of direct teaching of the language, such as in grammar courses in elementary schools. On the other hand, learning of language other than the mother tongue, such as learning of Hindi by a European child, or of French by a child in India, is completely a deliberate process.

Socialisation Agents A number of people who relate to us possess power to socialise us. Such people are called “ socialisation agents ”. Parents and family members are the most significant socialisation agents. Legal responsibility of child care, too, lies with parents.

Their task is to nurture children in such a manner that their natural potentials are maximised and negative behaviour tendencies are minimised or controlled. Since each child is also part of a larger community or society, several other influences (e.g., teachers, peer groups) also operate on her/his life. We will briefly discuss some of these influences. Parents Parents have most direct and significant impact on children’s development.

Children respond in different ways to parents in different situations. Parents encourage certain behaviours by rewarding them verbally (e.g., praising) or in other tangible ways (e.g., buying chocolates or objects of child’s desire). They also discourage certain behaviours through non-approving behaviours. They also arrange to put children in a variety of situations that provide them with a variety of positive experiences, learning opportunities, and challenges.

While interacting with children parents adopt different strategies, which are generally known as parenting styles. A distinction is made between authoritative, authoritarian and democratic or permissive parenting styles. Studies indicate that parents vary enormously in the treatment of children in terms of their degree of acceptance and degree of control . The conditions of life in which parents live (poverty, illness, job stress, nature of family) also influence the styles they adopt in socialising children.

Grandparental proximity and network of social relationships play considerable role in child socialisation directly or through parental influences. School School is another important socialising agent. Since children spend a long time in schools, which provide them with a fairly organised set up for interaction with teachers and peers, school is today being viewed as a more important agent of child socialisation than parents and family. Children learn not only cognitive skills (e.g., reading, writing, doing mathematics) but also many social skills (e.g., ways of behaving with elders and age mates, accepting roles, fulfilling responsibilities).

They also learn and internalise the norms and rules of society. Several other positive qualities, such as self-initiative, self-control, responsibility, and creativity are encouraged in schools. These qualities make children more self- reliant. If the transaction has been successful, the skills and knowledge children acquire in schools either through curriculum or interaction with teachers and peers also get transferred to other domains of their life.

Many researchers believe that a good school can altogether transform a child’s personality. That is why we find that even poor parents want to send their children to good schools. Peer Groups One of the chief characteristics of the middle childhood stage is the extension of social network beyond home. Friendship acquires great significance in this respect.

It provides children not only with a good opportunity to be in company of others, but also for organising various activities (e.g., play) collectively with the members of their own age. Qualities like sharing, trust, mutual understanding, role acceptance and fulfilment develop in interaction with peers. Children also learn to assert their own point of view and accept and adapt to those of others. Development of self-identity is greatly facilitated by the peer group.

Since communication of children with peer group is direct, process of socialisation is generally smooth. Media Influences In recent years media has also acquired the property of a socialisation agent. Through television, newspapers, books and cinema the external world has made/is making its way into our home and our lives. While children learn about many things from these sources, adolescents and young adults often derive their models from them, particularly from television and cinema.

The exposure to violence on television is a major issue of discussion, since studies indicate that observing violence on television enhances aggressive behaviour among children. There is a need to use this agent of socialisation in a better way in order to prevent children from developing undesirable behaviours. A CCULTURATION Acculturation refers to cultural and psychological changes resulting from contact with other cultures. Contact may be direct (e.g., when one moves and settles in a new culture) or indirect (e.g., through media or other means).

It may be voluntary (e.g., when one goes abroad for higher studies, training, job, or trade) or involuntary (e.g., through colonial experience, invasion, political refuge). In both cases, people often need to learn (and also they do learn) something new to negotiate life with people of other cultural groups. For example, during the British rule in India many individuals and groups adopted several aspects of British lifestyle. They preferred to go to the English schools, take up salaried jobs, dress in English clothes, speak English language, and change their religion.

Acculturation can take place any time in one’s life. Whenever it occurs, it requires re-learning of norms, values, dispositions, and patterns of behaviour. Changes in these aspects require re-socialisation. Sometimes people find it easy to learn these new things, and if their learning has been successful, shifts in their behaviour easily take place in the direction of the group that brings in acculturation.

In this situation transition to a new life is relatively smooth and free from problems. On the other hand, in many situations people experience difficulties in dealing with new demands of change. They find change difficult, and are thrown into a state of conflict. This situation is relatively painful as it leads to experience of stress and other behavioural difficulties by acculturating individuals and groups.

Psychologists have widely studied how people psychologically change during acculturation. For any acculturation to take place contact with another cultural group is essential. This often generates some sort of conflict. Since people cannot live in a state of conflict for a long time, they often resort to certain strategies to resolve their conflicts.

For a long time it was felt that social or cultural change oriented towards modernity was Observe - families belonging to different cultural and socio-economic background for about half an hour in the morning and evening interacting with their children for five days. Do you find any difference in parental interaction with their sons and daughters? Note their distinct pattern of behaviour and discuss this with your teacher.