How cultures differ

Cultures differ in their details from one part of the world to another. For example, rating is a biological need. But what people eat, when and how they eat, and how food is prepared differ from culture to culture. A geographical region in which the people share many cultural traits and patterns is called a cultural area.

Environmental differences are related to cultural variation. Such factors as climate, land forms, mineral resources, and native plants and animals all influence culture. For example, most people in tropical regions wear draped clothing, which consists of one or more long pieces of cloth wrapped around the body. People who live in colder parts of the world wear tailored clothing, which is cut and sewn to fit the body. Tailored clothing provides more warmth than draped clothing.

People do not realize how greatly culture influences their behaviour – until they come across other ways of doing things in a cultural way rather than in a "natural" way. For example, many Westerners believe it is natural to look directly into a person’s eyes while talking. Buy the people of some Asian nations think it is rude to do so.

People think most comfortable within their own culture, and they prefer the company of others who share their culture. When people have to deal with persons of another culture, even small differences in behaviour may them uneasy. The difficulty or uneasiness that people undergo when they leave their own culture and enter another is called culture shock. The attitude that a person’s own culture is the best and most natural is called ethnocentrism.

Motivation

Motivation is anything that causes people to behave as they do. Most people have a clear understanding what it feels like to be motivated to do something. But scientists have found it difficult to define motivation. Motivation may result from stimuli inside or outside the body. An organism’s response to stimuli depends on habits and other ways of acting that it has learned. Based on such learning, the organism may act either aimlessly or highly purposefully in a particular situation.

Motives may direct behaviour. For example, differing motives may direct the behaviour of two football coaches when their teams face much stronger opponents. One coach’s behaviour may be motivated by competition or winning. That coach may concentrate on seeking an upset victory. However, the behaviour of the other coach may be motivated by the players’ feelings and focus on keeping the players from being discouraged by the probable loss.

Psycholofists place all motives into one of three groups. These groups are homeostatic motives, nonhomeostatic motives and learned, or social, motives. Homeostatic motives include hunger, thirst, respiration. Non homeostatic motives include such maternal activity as nest building, and curiosity about the environment. Social motives continue to evolve and influence behaviour throughout life. However, their exact origins are not clear.

Some general theories of motivation identify a limited number of central motives, such as sex and death instincts, from which either motives develop. Other theories support a single, main motive in human development, such as a person’s need for power or to fully realize his or her potential. In contrast, some psychologists argue that many different motives guide behaviour. These motives include needs for order, understanding, and independence.