Influence of Culture and Socialization – Formation of Identity (PSY, SOC)

00:01 So by teasing those things out we're able to then go on and shape your own personal identity based on what we’re pulling on that reference group.

00:09 And this kindly goes back to my earlier example of being around academics or being around athletics.

00:14 Those will help, the characteristics of that group will help shape your identity.

00:18 Referred to this socialization with others.

00:21 Socialization is the process through which individuals learn to be functional members of society.

00:26 As you socialize with those around you in the adolescent age, say you’re in high school or grade school. You interact and socialize with others.

00:34 That’s when you understand and start to realize your place and what you do.

00:40 At school, it could be like, "Well, I socialize with my friends but I also interact with my teachers, I interact with my parents when I go home." And so based on all socialization and interaction that you have, that helps you understands sort of your identity forms your place.

00:55 Now, culture can also place huge role in how we form our identity and it’s engage to its socialization.

01:04 A continuous sociological process where people learn is can be culture specific.

01:11 What are we talking about right here? We’re talking about attitudes, beliefs and values.

01:15 In this specific culture, you have certain ways of interacting.

01:20 A specific culture, in terms of how socializes is shaped on attitudes, beliefs, and values.

01:27 Where you fit in the mix is what you pull out of those three variables.

01:31 What are the attitudes in my culture? What are the beliefs of my culture? What are the values of my culture? And how am I using these to socialize with those within my culture? And how’s is that thing going to go on and shape my identity? Let’s take an example.

01:44 If in your culture, part of the attitudes are it’s be extremely going and social and a lot of hugging, kissing, the double cheek kiss and the hugs and the talking.

01:56 It’s all about social interaction within your family and friends.

01:59 Always getting in together. Always eating, showing emotion and placing family, and placing social interaction high on your value list.

02:08 Versus other cultures were, you don’t outwardly show a lot of emotions.

02:12 Not a lot of hugging and kissing.

02:13 There’s a lot perhaps like a little head nods, that’s the most for hello.

02:17 And you don’t really discuss your personal business and you’re solid a lot of solidarity.

02:25 And you stick together but it’s a lot of individualization that you stay kind of a party.

02:29 Everybody has their own personal space.

02:31 Too different cultures and the identity that you will form base on being either those culture will be completely different.

02:39 So sometimes, somebody whose say like from North America or other parts like Italy or something and you go to a country where, say Japan or Asia where there’s not a lot of hugging and kissing. There’s a lot of space.

02:53 And there’s a lot of being subdued.

02:56 You go visit on one of these places and you’re going to say hello to somebody like, “Hey, how are you? You going to hug and kiss them. They will kind like, "What are you doing? That is not appropriate." And is that culture specific set of attitude, beliefs and values that shapes your identity.

03:10 So you have now embrace those cultural specific forms and shape your identity.

03:16 And you can see that displace when you go someplace where it’s different or does not a line with exactly the way you are.

03:23 For older adults, this process involves teaching the younger children.

03:29 They are the teachers in this equation.

03:31 As youngsters, you might not get or how do you say hello or how do you suppose to act.

03:37 And so those are older who teach them.

03:39 No when you see your grandpa, you know you are going to give him a hug.

03:41 You going to say, "Hi nono" or "Hi grandpa." And they teach them these things.

03:47 And so the culture and how to socialize between that culture is passed on and this is help shaping your identity.

03:57 For younger children, it involves incorporating information from their cultural surroundings.

04:00 Now, you are not going to teach a new born or a little baby these specific things but instead them just soaking it up.

04:08 And being in that cultural surrounding they learn how to act.

04:12 Certain cultures were, the baby tends to be on their mother or a little bit more.

04:18 They are much more maternal. And the father out say hunting and gathering or working or doing whatever.

04:22 The baby has a certain cultural contacts than that. They understands, this how things are.

04:29 And I tend to be around women more.

04:31 Work quite busy and I stay put with my mom versus other cultures were maybe both parents are around a lot or no parents around a lot.

04:40 And the child will actually absorb that just by being a lot of environment and that will shape their identity.

04:47 So let’s take a look at some research and some experiments that kind of highlight the impact of being in a social environment and social contact on how that can shape their identity.

05:00 So, some early experiments by Henry Harlow. Take a look at some monkeys.

05:04 What we use to trying to illustrate was that early social contact is really necessary to help shape their identity.

05:11 And so there is what we call the Harlow’s monkey is our extremely socially deprived from infancy.

05:16 They’re were really allowed to really engage in social activity and social behavior with other animals or with their monkeys.

05:23 and they are kind a put away and a lot of isolation.

05:27 And then overtime as they’re a little bit older, they try to reintegrate them back and they really couldn't because they were missing a lot of social cues that they needed to engage correctly and within their own cultural community.

05:42 And you see this a lot of times with animals that areborn in captivity.

05:47 And you try reintegrate them back into the wild. And they have some issue.

05:50 Or those that are in the wild, don’t actually accept them because of these differences.

05:56 Well, they don’t understand our cultures and traditions.

05:58 Now, we can escalate that into what’s happening sort of in humans.

06:04 and what impact being on a society actually have in terms of integration.

06:09 Now, here’s the example of something it’s along the lines of the monkey.

06:13 They’re called Feral children, these are individuals who are not raised with human contact or care.

06:18 Kind of sad situation that I don’t think it happens extremely often but there are cases that either extremely neglect with the parents essentially completely out of equation and they’ve abandoned their children.

06:30 Or there’s situation where these children are not around almost anybody.

06:35 There’s the fictional character of Mowgli from the Jungle Book.

06:40 I don’t know if you’ve seen that movie or read that book.

06:42 And the idea, the premise there is this young child gets left in the jungle.

06:47 and that he is actually raised remember this is fiction is raised by animals.

06:52 An so that small child Mowgli is not around humans and doesn’t understand that the human social interaction.

06:59 And instead starts to embrace and connect more with the actual animals.

07:03 And then when, he’s trying to be reintroduced into the human social cultural circle, things don’t go so long.

07:11 The lack normal identity formation and may displace their identity.

07:15 They become more in this Mowgli example animal like.

07:18 And he felt more comfortable being like an animal than being like a human because this identity has been shifted from being human to being something animal like.

07:31 Now, let’s take a look at, in humans what impact culture can have in terms of their behaviors and integration.

07:37 Culture can refer to how group of people live, how their set of values and behaviors.

07:42 I only need to go on a deep discussion where culture is only need we are all get it.

07:46 and we’ve been talking about quite a bit.

07:47 But you know, how do you eat? How do you say hello to somebody? How do you act in the presence of others than the opposite gender? Things like that. How do you dress, the garb, the speak, the food. All of this shape are culture.

08:06 So we know that not all cultures are the same obviously.

08:09 And we also know not all cultures are accepted in certain regions or a countries.

08:13 And this can influence the formation of identity.

08:15 Let’s use the example of kind of what is happening right now on our global environment.

08:21 We have a lot of shift happening.

08:23 Let’s take the Syrian refugee example, it’s kind of relevant because I’m from Canada and we’ve agreed it and welcomed over 25,000 Syrian refugee into our country in the last half of a year.

08:38 So that’s a huge movement of people with a completely different culture.

08:43 And Canada is quite embracing in a lot of ways.

08:47 And they’ve allowed, they’ve greeted and welcome these people into our country.

08:52 And they bring with them their own set of culture and values.

08:56 And so sometimes in a certain situations and even within a Canadian contact, they’re definitely some people would say, "Why are they coming? I don’t agree with them." And a lot of generalizations happen. And so I’m just picking this out in the air Some don’t really quite understand the Muslim faith, the Muslim culture.

09:16 And they associate that with maybe some of what they see splash on the TV screens and movies.

09:21 And the generalizations and the stereotypes of what a terrorist looks like.

09:25 And a terrorist is wearing something on their head and has a beard and is Muslim and he speaks Arabic. And so therefore that’s a terrorist.

09:32 And you know that’s the culture. And I don’t want that culture around me.

09:35 So that’s the combination of a couple of things here like stereotypes and generalizations.

09:40 But the point I want to focus it on is that, that’s the difference set of a culture and values.

09:44 That is coming in to your specific stand box of culture and values.

09:49 And they don’t always mesh well.

09:51 And so what ends up happening is those with different set of culture values will actually either adjust and modified their behavior or their identity.

10:02 Or if one is being formed we make it this confusion.

10:06 So say for example, you’re a second generation immigrant being born in the US or Canada, and you’re now slightly conflicted because you have your own immediate family culture.

10:19 But then your part of a broader Canadian culture.

10:21 And so that influence can happen, where are you from? Where are you staying? How did the two mixed in? And was he the ultimate eventual personal identity that you form.