On an individual level do people think the same even if they are from a different cultural background?

Question

How much does the cultural background of a person influence the way people react and interact with eachother? Is it genetic? Is racism caused by a form of genetic variation and has the human race changed enough that different races are actually a form of speciation?

Answer 1

There are many good answers here. Almost all seem to back up the theory of "nature and nurture theory" in human development.  Many factors account for a person's thought process, ie family environment, society expectations, genetic abilities/disabilities and the persons own decisions and coping mechanisms.

Answer 2

I do not know what you mean by "same" - which is an answer in and of itself.

The way the brain works may by the same when it comes to human physics or may not if cultural differences cause an individual to sort things differently or find certain behaviors acceptable or unacceptable, for instance.

Answer 3

i think people are individuals, even in cultures. there may be some groups and distinctions we can make but we must be very careful.

There are some dichotomies that make sense to us, ie the squirrell and the grass hopper, some save thier nuts for winter, they work hard and work within the status qou of thier society, there are those in the same society who prefer to play and we all know the story of playing with no working.

If we go beneath the clothes and the food we can see that they take thier respective roles in thier community, can we go further and say that these good or bad segments in the society are themselves the same too. Certainly many things can be found to be common among them.

Many are divided by thier tribes and loyalty or ethnocentrism and patriotism, it is not racial though that is just a easy division or a simple mans view of an intricate mosaic. Different races hve not specialized n anything.

Answer 4

People from different backgrounds and cultures tend to see things a bit different from other cultures.  I work with a great deal of international students on a daily basis and I have found out from experience, that what bothers me or makes me laugh is not necessarily what makes them react like me.

Sometimes its the language barrier but I think that people from different cultures have a different way of thinking about situations. This is not to say that they may feel exactly like you.

My wife was born in another country and sometimes our miscommunication between us, in rare occasions, is our way of viewing the world or interpreting it.  Also, the way we communicate it to each other. Body language, and of course, how we say it.  

I think biases are caused by our background and yes could be racial.

I work with several black guys and we kid each other all the time about how each race views the other. Its funny but not always truthful.  

It can also be very real sometimes if everyone was honest about themselves. Its perseption from anothers racial viewpoint.

Answer 5

Wow!!! There are three questions presented here.  The cultural background of an individual is a very strong influence on individual values. There is always that "rogue" in any group that prefers to investigate other possibilities that may exist, and discover alternatives that do not support the cultural values of the group. Then values become a matter of choice. People are more comfortable when functioning within  a support system, and that accounts for the incredible number of difference beliefs.There are groups, and sub groups, and sub sub groups. Genetic eh?  I wonder how one could determine genetic influence on ones belief system?  It could be possible, but, I think, very difficult to prove.  Racism is a learned belief, supported by ignorance, rationalization, fear,  and misrepresentation.  There is only one race, the human race.  Specialization is the evolutionary accommodation necessary for the success of the development of characteristics that  provide for the survival of each group.

Answer 6

I guess this is the question cultural anthropology has been trying to answer!

From the most "conservative" view of structuralism (mostly Levi Strauss and Edmund Leach) all human have the same "structure" of thought that is like a meta-configuration. This is thought to be deterministic and underplaying human agency and possibility for change by modern anthropology.

Postmodern theory on the other extreme supposes that each human is unique since his own experience and subjectivism are unique. One should also keep in mind that cultural background is not static, and is affected by the individual as well.

It is possible to find a middle ground. That is, of course cultural backgrounds affect human thought and behavior, but it does not fully determine his actions (otherwise we would also fall into problems of accountability for social actions). Human agency allows individuals to take their lives (thoughts, and knowledge) into their own hands and shape both themselves and their communities.

I doubt any respectable scholar would consider racism genetic, it is rather the result of socialization and rearing in racist families/communities.

Edit: Incidentally I was reading the following: "Adorno et al. (1950) claimed, among other things, that authoritatian leanings - the tendency to categorize individuals according to various types of status, to glorify superiors, and to look down on those who are regarded as in lower ranks (e.g. persons belonging to other "races") - must be understood in light of an authoritarian upbringing, which in turn is associated with other general authoritarian tendencies at the workplace and in society in general. These are supported and re-created in their turn by authoritatian relations in the process of socialization."