Khadija Riaz
5 min readApr 15, 2023

“Culture is the name for what people are interested in, their thoughts, their models,the books they read and the speeches they hear” by Walter Lippmann.

Everyone, every society, and every nation are influenced by culture. An individual's conduct impacts his place in the public eye. Because behavior is a component of the cultural concept, culture and behavior go hand in hand. Because everyone is a part of a particular culture, culture is universal.

Cultures are ideas created by humans. Despite having material aspects, they are abstract.

It is possible for individuals to alter some aspects of their culture; however, it would be difficult to determine what aspects of a culture can or should be altered without a comprehensive understanding of how cultures develop and change. As a categorical idea of people, culture is a school of thought that has anthropologists all over the world dedicated to studying its many intricacies. This means that the act of changing a culture can only be minimal.

The culture we grew up in and the environment we live in influence the things we do every day. We normally are not completely mindful of our activities and ways of behaving, in this way they are humanly normal to us. Upon perception by various scientists and researchers, the way of life individuals have a place with is the purpose for individuals' mentalities towards a specific occasion or occurring.

Sociologists define culture as the values, beliefs, behavior, and material objects that make up a people’s way of life. It includes our thoughts, actions, and possessions. Because it is the result of human influences throughout history and a field that is studied and predicted by those studying humans, culture is regarded as both a link to the past and a guide to the future. Culture shapes what we do and frames our characters. There are many different cultures in the world. In the Brazilian rainforest, some ethnic groups consider aggression to be part of human nature. The Semai nation of Malaysia, nonetheless, live in harmony and collaboration. While individuals in Japan emphasize group-orientedness and tradition, those in the United States value accomplishments, individuality, and dedication.

The actions, ideas, feelings, and sentiments that take on a symbolic form are part of human behavior.

According to White (1947), a symbol is a thing, an action, a sound, or a color whose meaning is determined by the people who use it.

Because of this, human behavior is an important part of culture. Culture is defined by behavior, and behavior is defined by culture. The study of culture can be approached in a variety of ways. Race, ethics, religion, or social groups were used to classify culture. Culture changes as people adjust to their changing environment.

Culture can’t develop without two things. These are the learning possibilities and sociality of people. Glenn asserts that the transmission of behavioral content, which was learned by one person during his lifetime, is the beginning of culture. The possibility that one’s conduct precedes the definition of one’s way of life is now confounding in itself. Consider that both are aspects of one another and vice versa. This is called a "super organismic phenomenon" by Glenn. People’s behaviors are just one aspect of culture. Culture also has a small influence on human behavior.

As a result, individuals develop their own culture. After that, their culture makes them. However, a culture cannot be created or altered by a single individual because it is a collective idea that must be adhered to by all, if not most, of its members.

Daily Life According to the dual-inheritance theory , culture’s relatively quick adaptation to changing environments through imitation has made it a major factor in human evolution (Irons, 2009). They claim that imitation of anyone, from high-status individuals to the most common practices to the human primal instinct to survive, is how culture is learned, resulting in behaviors. The demonstration of kissing, for instance, varies all through various societies. For Western social orders, it is satisfactory to kiss openly. For the Asians , kissing is just finished in private. Kissing someone on the lips is one way to express affection for Americans in public. Maori people in New Zealand rub their noses together, whereas French people kiss on both cheeks.

The culture of competition is yet another illustration of how behavior influences culture and vice versa. In most societies, young children learn to compete with other children. In school, they compete for intelligence; When they participate in beauty pageants or when mothers praise them by making fun of other children, they compete based on how they look. As they get older, kids develop competitive tendencies and a desire to outperform others. As a result, competition becomes more prevalent and grows.

Because our culture, society, media, and laws permit these behaviors to surface, society accepts this. A culture that stands the test of time is then created by accepting behavior. Culture can only change when people accept the opposite of what is expected.

Once a certain behavior is accepted by the majority, it can have an impact on one’s culture and the culture of the society.

Convincingly, culture influences individuals regardless of whether they need it to. It has an impact on how they act wherever they are—at home, in an organization, or in other social settings.

There are factors that make societies like one another. These are the times when events occur that are unrelated to human behavior. Social cohesion is necessary for the human survival instinct. Because human social life is complex, cultures will still differ in their ability to survive through social coordination. Humans are social animals.

The idea of culture is well-known to the general public and academic community. It has had a significant impact on how people act and, ultimately, how humans evolved. Culture is a hill that shapes individuals, impacting all people under it, whether intentionally or subliminally.

When viewed from various perspectives, the connection between culture and human behavior is complex. The variety of culture and its investigation uncovers the intricacies of people, particularly in our ways of behaving. By and large, culture influences a singular's way of behaving and a singular's conduct influences the way of life he is essential for. Culture develops when individuals prompt change on a part of their way of life, bringing about a change over the course of time. Due to a number of limitations, such as geographical reach and recognition of the majority in the same culture, changes in culture are typically minimal.

Khadija Riaz

Hi I am Khadija Riaz and I am a student of Chartered accountancy.