© 2014 Wadsworth Cengage Learning

Culture and Nature

So really, what are you like deep down inside?”

Chapter Topics

Nature and Social Behavior Culture and Human Social Life Important Features of Human Social Life

Discussion: Nature and Culture Which do you think is a more

powerful force on human behavior: nature or culture? Why?

What do you think are advantages of being a cultural species? What are the disadvantages?

Debate: Gender Identity

Consider the case of Brenda, who was born a boy, but raised as a girl after a botched circumcision What does this say about the limits of

socialization? What do stories such as this suggest

about culture versus nature? Do you believe sex differences to be

more innate or more socialized?http://youtu.be/3GhbVFjIaN0

Explaining the Psyche

What is the psyche? A broad term for mind, encompassing

emotions, desires, perceptions, and all other psychological processes

How is the psyche shaped by nature and culture? https://www.truetube.co.uk/film/nature-vs-nurture

How do nature and culture interact with each other?

Nature Defined

How is nature explained in human behavior? Genes, hormones, brain structure and

other innate processes dictate one’s choices and actions

Over the last two decades, many people have focused on how evolution influences social behavior

Evolution, and Doing What’s Natural The theory of evolution focuses on

how change occurs in nature Natural selection decides which

traits will endure, and which will disappear Survival: living long enough to reproduce Reproduction: producing babies that also

reproduce Mutation: new gene or combination of

genes

Social Animals Humans are social animals, and seek

connections to others What are some ways that people connect

with others? Being social offers evolutionary benefits

Can find more food Can mate and reproduce easier Can alert each other to danger Can take care of sick and injured

The Social Brain

Social brain theory Animals with bigger

brains live in larger, more complex social groups (Dunbar, 1993, 1996)

How is living in larger groups more complicated?

Why would living in larger groups require larger brains?

Social Animal or Cultural Animal? What is culture?

An information-based system includes shared ideas and common ways of doing things

What makes humans cultural animals (as opposed to merely social animals)?

Culture Defined

Important features of culture Shared ideas

What ideas do Democrats and Republicans share?

Culture as a system How do we depend more on our encounters

with other people than with the natural world? Culture as praxis

How do shared behaviors influence culture? Culture, information, and meaning

How does language shape culture?

Food for Thought

How does culture influence what we eat? Nature: Humans are naturally inclined to

eat meat Culture: Many religions dictate what food

can be eaten, and vegetarians often say that it is wrong to eat animals

Social Side of Sex

Debate over whether human sexuality is the result nature or nurture?

Aspects of sexuality common across culture may be rooted in nature.

Some aspects of sexuality show influence of culture.

Differences exist within cultures as well.

Common Aspects of Sexuality In all cultures men have a desire for

more sex partners than women. Same basic sex practices known in

most cultures. All cultures have runs about sex. All cultures have made efforts to

control conception. All cultures have some form of

prostitution

Culture influences in Sexuality Guam – a law prohibits a women from

marrying while a virgin. Turkey – women are expected to be virgins

until they marry. Indonesia - law prohibits masturbation,

people caught doing this crime are beheaded.

Lebanese – men who have sex with male animals are subject to the death penalty, but is perfectly legal to have sex with a female animal.

Nature and Culture Interacting How do nature and culture interact

to influence us? Professional athletes are likely to be

born in January because as kids, they are in leagues with younger, smaller kids

Younger kids drop out more often; older, larger, more coordinated kids get more attention from coaches

Nature and Culture Interacting (cont’d.) Co-evolution: nature shapes culture,

and culture shapes nature How is being a cultural animal

different than being a social animal (e.g., an elephant or an ant)? Language Division of labor (bees vs. football team) Ability to solve disagreements (violence

vs. cultural norms)

The Duplex Mind

Automatic system Outside of consciousness Simple operations Always on, even in sleep

Conscious system Complex operations Turns off during sleep

What is the Role of Consciousness?

Increased scientific focus on role of automatic system Can learn, think, choose, and respond Has ideas and emotions Knows “self” and other people

Consciousness focuses on complex thinking and logic How do complex thinking and logic affect our

behaviors? Are they necessary for everyday life?

How They Work Together

Automatic system makes conscious thought possible

Conscious override: deliberate system can suppress automatic urges When have you used conscious

override?

The Long Road to Social Acceptance Working to gain social acceptance

People learn to work within cultural bounds

In Victorian era, cursing and picking your nose was unacceptable; today, cursing is often accepted, but picking your nose is not

Built to Relate

How have human emotions evolved to help bond people together in tighter (and more evolutionarily advantageous) social groups?

Automatic processes prepare us for interactions with other groups Why do people feel aggressive when

thinking about groups they don’t like?

Nature Says Go; Culture Says Stop Nature: impulses, wishes, automatic

responses Culture: teaches self-control and

restraint Exceptions

Nature’s disgust reactions (Stop) Cultural timetable for meals (Go)

Selfish Impulse Versus Social Conscience Why does nature make us selfish?

Natural selection: preservation of self Why would culture ask us to resist

selfish impulses? Consideration of what is best for society

Morality works best for small, close-knit groups

Laws take the place of morality for suppressing selfish urges with larger groups

Putting People First

How do human senses vary from other animals’? Dogs hear many things humans cannot,

but they do not hear as precisely as humans do

How does each way of hearing change the lifestyle of the animal?

How is culture a “general store” of information? How do other animals figure things out,

if not through culture?

Putting People First (cont’d.) People look to each other first

Asch: Line-judging task Participants were asked to look at which

line fit best Confederates in group gave wrong

answer; many participants did, too

• Why are people influenced more by others who are perceived as similar to themselves?

What Makes Us Human?

Human life is enmeshed in culture What common themes do cultures share? What unique problems does culture create? Why and how is knowledge shared from

generation to generation? Humans think with language and

meaning How does this influence our behavior? What is the evolutionary advantage of

language?

Conclusion

Human behavior results from a mix of nature and culture

Nature and culture interact with each other to influence human behavior

Culture is a powerful force on people, even overcoming nature at times