Transcript Chapter 2: Culture and Nature

Chapter 2 - Culture and Nature
• Explaining the Psyche
• The Individual and Society
• Facts of Life
• Important Features of Human Social Life
• What Makes Us Human?
Culture and Nature
• What does the case of “Little Brenda” suggest
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about culture and nature?
On the spectrum of innate versus socialized;
where do you believe sex differences to be?
Explaining the Psyche
• Psyche – broad term for mind, encompassing
emotions, desires, perceptions, and all other
psychological processes.
– Nature – Genes, hormones, brain structure
and other innate processes dictate how
you will choose and act
– Culture – Learned experiences; from
parents, society and any experiences
Nature
• Theory of evolution – Focus on how change
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occurs in nature
Natural selection – Process of selection of
traits that will endure; while others disappear
– Survival until reproduction
– Reproduction
Evolution
• Survival – living longer
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– “Survival of the fittest”
– Competition within species
Mutation – a new gene or combination of
genes
Reproduction – producing babies that survive
long enough to also reproduce
Culture
• Culture – an information-based system
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includes shared ideas and common ways of
doing things
– Ideas – mental representations that are
abstract and that can be expressed in
language
In research, need to consider cultural
differences and underlying similarities
Social Animal or Cultural Animal?
• Social Animal – seek connections to others
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– Includes humans, but also many other
animals
Cultural Animal – evolution shaped human
psyche to enable humans to create and take
part in culture
– Defining trait of what makes us human
Social or Cultural Animal?
• Social
– Work together
– Learn from one another
– Help kin
– Resolve conflict with aggression
Social or Cultural Animal?
• Cultural
– Division of labor
– Deliberately share knowledge
– Help strangers
– Resolve conflict with many alternatives
The Individual and Society
• Social Brain Theory
– Why only human brain evolved
• Larger brain is linked to complex social
systems (Dunbar, 1993, 1996)
Advantages of Culture
• Human brain evolved to capitalize on culture
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– Language
– Progress - to build on experience of others
– Division of Labor
– Exchange of Goods and Services
Humans have evolved to participate in culture
Interplay of Nature and Culture
• Food and Sex
– Natural phenomena
– Influenced by culture
• Influence of ideas
Food for Thought - Virtuous Vegetarians
• Vegetarian
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– Moral principles – cultural ideas
– Ecological reasons
– Animal rights
– Religious beliefs
Power of ideas to change human behavior
Social Side of Sex - Sex and Culture
• Is sex rooted in nature - evolution or culture?
• Features rooted in nature
– Men desire more sexual partners
– Sex is main way to procreate
– Basic sex practices are present in most
cultures
Social Side of Sex - Sex and Culture
• Influences found in most cultures
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– Rules about sex
– Efforts to prevent pregnancy
– Prostitution
Cultural differences and within cultures
– Virgin at marriage
– Age of first sexual experience
Bad Is Stronger Than Good
• Bad has stronger psychological impact
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– Trauma versus joyful event
– Subjective well-being
– First impressions
May be rooted in nature
Positive found in cultural ideas
– Positive psychology
Is Bad Stronger Than Good?
Bad, Good, and Positive Psychology
• Since bad things are stronger than good –
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need more good than bad experiences
People flourish in life when they have three
times as many positive emotions as negative
emotions
When You Can’t Have It All
• Tradeoffs – no choice that is clearly the best
in every respect
– Time – Now versus Tomorrow
• Performance-enhancing drugs
• Sacrifice now – Payoff in the future
– Future Orientation
• Important aspect of cultural animal
Tradeoffs - Political Tradeoffs
• Political tradeoffs
– Laws address current problems, but may
create new ones
– Energy to environmental issues
– Taxes to government services
Tradeoffs - Political Tradeoffs
• Politicians and tradeoffs
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– During campaign – make promises and
ignore tradeoffs
– When in office – acknowledge tradeoffs
Demonstrate a tradeoff of politics
– To win elections, you need to oversimplify
the issues and ignore the complications
Important Features of Human Social Life
The Duplex Mind
• Automatic system
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– Outside of consciousness
– Simple operations
Conscious system
– Complex operations
Changing Role of Consciousness
• Increased focus on role of automatic system
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– Can learn, think, choose and respond
– Has idea and emotions
– Knows “self” and other people
Consciousness focus on complex thinking
and logic
Living in a Culture
• Working to gain social acceptance
– Inner states help humans connect to others
• Intelligent brain evolved to improve
interpersonal relations
Nature Says Go, Culture Says No
• Nature – impulses, wishes, automatic
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responses
Culture – teaches self-control and restraint
Exceptions
– Nature’s disgust reactions (No)
– Cultural timetable for meals (Go)
Selfish Impulse Versus Social Conscience
• Nature makes us selfish
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– Preservation of self
Culture helps us resist selfish impulses
– Consideration of what is best for society
• Moral Code
• Laws
Putting People First
• People get most of what they need from other
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people
Culture as a “general store” of information
People look to each other first
– Asch’s research on conformity
What Makes Us Human?
• Human behavior results from mix of nature
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and culture
Human life is enmeshed in culture
– Diverse but share common themes
– Creates unique problems
– Is shared from generation to generation
Humans think with language and meaning