A social construct is a concept that exists not in objective reality, but as a result of human interaction.

1. THE SELF AS A
SOCIAL
CONSTRUCT

2. LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1. Articulate what culture
means to the self as a part
of society.
2. Attribute self-
understanding and behavior
to cultural factors.

3. LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
3. Recognize and appreciate
differences in cultural behaviors
of the self, particularly from the
Western and Asia contexts.
4. Explain how the modern
world has changed our view of
the self.

4. WHAT IS A SOCIAL
CONSTRUCT?
A social construct is a concept
that exists not in objective
reality, but as a result of
human interaction. It exists
because humans agree that it
exists.

6. RELATIONSHIPS
Culture influences how you
enter into and maintain
relationships. For example,
relationships may be seen as
voluntary or as duty-based.

7. PERSONALITY TRAITS
Culture influences your
personality and how it is
displayed, such as if and how
you value traits like humility,
self-esteem, politeness, and
assertiveness.

8. ACHIEVEMENT
Culture influences how you
define success and whether
you value certain types of
individual and group
achievements.

9. EXPRESSING EMOTIONS
Culture influences which
feelings you show, when and
how you share them, and
whether you consider feelings
public or private.

10. SELF, SOCIETY, AND
CULTURE…
are tightly interwoven
and inseparable
components of the
human experience.

11. The self is shaped by the
influence of society and
culture, while society and
culture are shaped by the
behavior and attitudes of
the individual.

12. Society and culture
provide individuals with a
set of values and beliefs, a
shared language, social
norms and expectations,
and a sense of belonging
and identity.

13. SELF, SOCIETY, AND
CULTURE…
are inextricably
linked, with each
influencing and being
influenced by the
others.

14. WHAT IS THE SELF?
•separate
•self-contained
•independent
•consistent
•unitary
•private

15. THE SELF AND CULTURE
According to Marcel
Mauss, every self has
two faces: personne
and moi.

16. THE SELF AND CULTURE
Moi refers to a person’s
sense of who he is, his
body, his basic identity,
and his biological
givenness. It is the
person’s basic identity.

17. THE SELF AND CULTURE
Personne is composed of the
social concepts of what it means
to be who he is. It has much to do
with what it means to live in a
particular institution, a particular
family, a particular religion, a
particular nationality, and how to
behave given expectations and
influences from others.

18. HOW DOES CULTURE
INFLUENCE MY SELF-
UNDERSTANDING?
Culture influences your
personality and how it is
displayed, such as if and how
you value traits like humility,
self-esteem, politeness, and
assertiveness. Culture also
influences how you perceive
hardship and how you feel about
relying on others.

19. FOUNDATIONS
OF CULTURE AND
IDENTITY

20. CULTURE
influences your personality
and how it is displayed, such as
if and how you value traits like
humility, self-esteem,
politeness, and assertiveness.
Culture also influences how you
perceive hardship and how you
feel about relying on others.

21. CULTURE
is learned, which
accounts for the
importance of socializing
institutions like family,
school, peers, and the
media.

22. Our parents, friends,
teachers, and the
media help shape our
identities.

23. Personal identities
may change often as
people have new
experiences and
develop new interests
and hobbies.

24. Social identities do not
change as often because
they take more time to
develop, as you must
become interpersonally
invested.

25. Cultural identities are
based on socially
constructed categories
that teach us a way of
being and include
expectations for social
behavior or ways of
acting

26. DIFFERENCE MATTERS

27. Whenever we encounter
someone, we notice
similarities and
differences. While both are
important, the differences
are often highlighted and
contribute to
communication troubles.

28. DOES CULTURE AFFECT
OUR PERSONALITY?
Culture refers to the shared values, beliefs
and norms of a specific group of people.
Culture, therefore, influences the manner
we learn, live and behave. Because of this,
many theorists believe that culture is an
important shaper of our personality. One
of the general assumptions asserting the
effect of culture to personality is that
people who are born and bred in the same
culture share common personality traits.

29. PERSONALITY
According to Franz Boas,
(pioneer of Psychological
Anthropology),
personality is obtained
thru culture and not
biology.

30. As a result of globalization,
the world is becoming a
more multicultural place
with people from different
ethnic groups and religious
backgrounds living, working
and cooperating in the same
place, without giving up
their own identities, beliefs
and values.

31. Diversity makes a country stronger
and more dynamic. However, in
today’s diverse workplace, cross-
cultural communication can seem
challenging at first, even without a
language barrier. This is
understandable since every culture
has its own set of assumptions and
customs when it comes to face-to-
face interactions and getting a
certain point across.

32. “When working in a
multicultural team or in a
different country, it is
imperative to understand how
different cultures
communicate in the workplace
and how to adapt and embrace
those differences.”

33. A significant emphasis must be
placed on the concept of
acceptance, active listening,
and open-mindedness.
Ultimately, the difference
between success and failure
lies in being able to
understand, accept and learn
from different cultures.

34. FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS ON CULTURAL
BUSINESS DIFFERENCES
1. Business communication
2. Business relationships
3. The importance of hierarchy
4. Punctuality
5. Asking questions

35. COMPARING EASTERN AND
WESTERN CULTURES
Eastern cultures emphasize
relationship interdependence,
hierarchy, and status, whereas
Western cultures emphasize
individual uniqueness and
equality.

36. COMPARING EASTERN AND
WESTERN CULTURES
Easterners would be
expected to experience more
emotions related to
hierarchy, violations of
group norms, and
maintaining group harmony.

37. COMPARING EASTERN AND
WESTERN CULTURES
Westerners would be
expected to experience
emotions related to
violations of an individual’s
rights and to individual
successes.

38. COMPARING EASTERN AND
WESTERN CULTURES
Westerns seek to
optimize positive
emotions and minimize
negative emotions.

39. COMPARING EASTERN AND
WESTERN CULTURES
Easterners are more
comfortable balancing positive
and negative emotions, and
thus tend to experience mixed
emotions more often and for a
longer period of time.

40. WHAT IS UNDERSTANDING
SELF IN THE MODERN
WORLD?
A person's self-concept is their
understanding of who they are and
what makes them unique. This can
include the physical self, the social
self, the competent self, and the
inner, or psychological, self.
Meanwhile, a person's self-
understanding is about knowing
what motivates his or her actions.

41. THE LOOKING-GLASS
SELF: OUR SENSE OF
SELF IS INFLUENCED BY
OTHERS’ VIEWS OF US
The concept of the looking-glass
self states that part of how we
see ourselves comes from our
perception of how others see us
(Cooley, 1902).

42. OUR SENSE OF SELF IS
INFLUENCED BY
COMPARISONS WITH
OTHERS
Social comparison occurs when we
learn about our abilities and skills,
about the appropriateness and
validity of our opinions, and about
our relative social status by
comparing our own attitudes,
beliefs, and behaviors with those of
others.

43. OUR SENSE OF SELF IS
INFLUENCED BY THE
GROUPS WE BELONG TO
Group memberships result in
positive feelings, which occur
because we perceive our own
groups and thus ourselves in a
positive light.

44. OUR SENSE OF SELF IS
INFLUENCED BY THE
AUDIENCES WE HAVE
Positive self-esteem occurs not
only when we do well in our own
eyes but also when we feel that
we are positively perceived by the
other people we care about.