6/6/19, W07 ‘Culture and Psychology’

As I listened to Brother Ivers https://video.byui.edu/media/06+Culture+and+Psychology/0_s4h3d6bc

speak on the topic of culture and psychology, I realized the huge impact that cultural beliefs have on psychology. In one culture, people may feel shamed for not performing well; whether as a hunter or an athlete, whereas in another culture that ability isn’t exulted. Why are some talents or natural gifts given more weight than others in cultures? For example, why is farming seen now as manly in the Western States in America? However, for the Cherokee Indians before the time of the white settlers, women farmed.

As Brother Ivers stated, the higher the correspondence between the culture’s mandated ‘ought self’ and the individual’s ‘real self’, the higher his self-esteem. There are many elements in our American culture that irrationally cause people to have low self-esteem. I remember as an elementary school child realizing that our culturally created ‘ought self’ included athletic ability. Those of us who weren’t athletic were chosen last by our peers to be on teams in school gym class. There are many other culturally created ‘ought selves’ that negatively impact our psychology in America. For example, we are taunted daily with pictures on television of what our culture deems as ‘beautiful’ women and ‘handsome’ men. And in the last 40 years our society has adopted the belief that a mother with children at home should work outside the home as well. I have been asked numerous times over the years what I do for work. These culturally created ‘ought’ selves then create cultural diseases such as anorexia and cultural depression, which causes both emotional and physical suffering.

It’s important to take a step back and look at our culture. What is it teaching us? A quote attributed to Albert Einstein is: “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” This quote is a good reminder that we shouldn’t compare our ‘real’ selves to our culture’s ‘ought’ selves. We need to celebrate our differences, our individual talents and abilities, and contributions to society. As Brother Ivers said, ‘When we judge ourselves against our culture’s irrational ‘ought’ self, life is miserable, and life is too short for that.’ My hope as a TESOL teacher is that I can place more emphasis on my students’ 'signature strengths' than on what society deems as their ‘ought’ self.  I feel that if I can place a greater emphasis on their signature strengths, they will feel less shame, happier and more self-confident.