Impact of Culture on Personality and Vice-versa
The early anthropologists who had made significant contribution to this field are Ralph Linton (1893-1953), Abram Kardiner (1891-1981), and Cora Du Bois (1903-1991). The three authors regard culture and personality as interdependent and complementary to each other. They tried to correlate the type of cultural patterns with the type of individual personalities obtained in that society. They firmly believed that as a consequence of continuous contact with a particular type of cultural pattern, similar types of personalities emerge.
Linton was a co-founder of the basic personality structure theory with Kardiner. He sought to establish a basic personality for each culture in his book Cultural Background of Personality“(1946). After studying the cultural behaviour of different societies Ralph Linton (1945) noted three types of culture viz;
- 1) real culture (actual behaviour)
- 2) Ideal culture (Philosophical and traditional culture)
- 3) Culture construct (what is written on cultural elements etc.)
- Real culture is the sum total of behaviour of the members of the society, which are learned and shared in particular situations. A real culture pattern represents a limited range of behaviour within which the response of the members of a society to a particular situation will normally be form. Thus various individuals can behave differently but still in accordance with a real culture pattern.
- Ideal culture pattern is formed by philosophical traditions. In this, some traits of culture are regarded as ideals.
- Linton stated that there is a difference between the way of life of people and what we study and write about. Both are different dimensions of culture. The former is reality and the latter our understanding of the same. If the former is called culture the latter can be called culture construct. It is an abstraction from the reality which is the actual human behaviour.
While studying different aspects of culture and personality, he suggested some more concepts vis.,
- basic personality,
- status personality,
- social inventor
- Regarding basic culture he argued that in a society all the individuals undergo a similar type of socialisation, custom, traditions etc., and therefore, individuals acquire a common set of habits, which may be called a basic personality of the society.
- He suggested that in a society there are certain individuals, who are granted some special privileges, which lead to form a status personality.
- Considering social inventor, he argued that in a society some individuals do not follow the old traditional rules and customs of the society, but they try to imitate some other norms, behaviour or mode of living or make certain new discoveries, which are laid down on the society in course of time, and he called such individuals as social inventors.
He also discussed (1936) about different types of role, played by an individual in the society. The term role, according to Linton refers to the rules for behaviour appropriate to a given status or social position. This classical definition of role, given by Linton, has been useful in functional analysis within a synchronic frame work. However, he prescribed some criterias to the characteristics as person needs to become eligible for a particular social role.
- He identified two kinds of status, vis., ascribed and achieved status. According to him ascribed roles usually come by birth. For instance roles based on age, sex, kinship, and caste etc., are ascribed status.
- Whereas he says some efforts must be made to qualify for an achieved status. For example occupational roles, especially leadership, doctor, engineer, lawyer etc are achieved status.