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Cultural Difference

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RUNNING HEADING: CULTURAL DIFFERENCES

University of Phoneix
September 23, 2013
Dr. Victoria Anyikwa

Culture refers to a set of shared values, beliefs, and norms held by individuals of a group. Culture includes customs, material artifacts, and language that is transmitted from generation to generation. In the United States alone, there are several cultural differences. People do not dress the same, have the same religion, people have different perceptions of the world around them, have different languages, and also have different ways of expressing their personality. Differences between individuals within a culture are much greater than differences within groups. A person's belief, personality, sexual preferences, social standing, education, among other factors affect human behavior and culture. Recognizing and understanding differences in cultural patterns provides a framework for interpreting goals and behaviors of others. The purpose of this paper is to analyze religion and sexual identify/ orientation and point out their significance in understanding cultural differences.
Religion
Religions throughout the world are distinct in differences and relationship, with some having faith in saints, some in sacrifices and some in multiple gods. Religion is observed throughout the world in unlike traditions in few factors or other and can affect an individual’s behavior in his or her own tradition. According to Santrock (2010), people in numerous traditions will carry on the religion that he or she was educated; people carries on the religion in which he or she was informed through his or her parents. In the U.S. the most general religions observed are Catholic, Protestant and Catholic. In spite of being the most general religions every religion can have subgroups which grasp beliefs or differences that are varying from the whole. This is general in many religions as there can be varying enlightenment or interpretations which are transmitted from person to person. Catholic and Protestant religions have subgroups which may believe in which utilizing serpents must be a piece of the methods of religion for there are resources indicated in the bible regarding handling the snakes. This does not signify that every Protestant and Catholic must trust it; it is just that few subgroups trust.
Religion can be a significant factor on an individual’s life giving him or her places to require aid and also proposing a type of authority on life. Religion gives an individual a place to face for social authority and binds to the community and also a place to look for advice and instruction. Being a member in a religion permits people to a region to cultivate communication and relationships with people which trust and work like the individual. According to Sasaki and Kim (2011), religion is really a type of religion in which varies from religion to religion that the society formulate an incorporated outline of methods and cultures. Tradition and religion collaborate with each other, religion being a tradition and tradition altering religion and also how the religion is performed (Sasaki, J. Y., & Kim, H. S., 2011). Religion throughout the world may have likeness in spite of existing in various traditions. Religion in its own exists in one type or other throughout the entire world, being performed in many types (Sasaki, J. Y., & Kim, H. S., 2011). But how does this relate to sexual identity/orientation?
Sexual Identity/Orientation
Sexual integrity or orientation is argued by many psychologists if it is biologically or traditionally defined. According to Santrock (2010),“sexual determination is affected by cultural determinants, where few traditions acknowledge sexual happiness as abnormal or unnecessary” (Santrock, 2010). Sexual integrity like religion can vary from tradition to tradition with everyone trusting varying ideas and concepts. Few traditions can believe that sexual happiness or methods are a sin other people may educate males regarding masturbation and other may educate regarding pleasuring a woman. In instances such as these the tradition believe sexual methods a sin that will educate people which sexual connections with the traditions believing in pleasuring a woman or masturbation are not allowed. This becomes the foundation of the traditions, determining how sexual methods and connections are performed in that tradition (Santrock, 2010). Sexual orientation agrees with an individual’s sexual attitude on the same sex or on heterosexual connections (Santrock, 2010). The concern on whether sexual integrity is a traditional or biological matter formulates a varying solution depending on who is questioned. Sexual integrity as reported by a research is many causes like hormonal, environmental, cognitive and genetic factors yet there are no existing reliable researches. Presently it is unclear what is the actual reason of sexual orientation is or if traditions have a role in sexual orientation (Santrock, 2010).
Sexual integrity can be influenced through a tradition and the notions which are followed yet if these notions can be passed down to influence a person’s sexual orientation are still obscure. Traditions grasp ideas regarding the purpose of men and women when it relates to sexual connections and this can result to an aftermath on how the individual sees sexual personality in himself or herself and also to other people. Sexual integrity and sexual orientation concerns are varying in numerous traditions according to what every tradition rely on. These traditions regarding men and women’s sexual connections can be passed on to an individual’s job with some traditions assuming which women must be in the home cultivating children and cooking meanwhile men must be outside working. Some traditions may be freer regarding matters and permit women to work if women are not is particular fields like construction. Whichever the belief, it is probable what tradition has an effect on sexual integrity on people.
Conclusion
Religion is both an individual choice and also a learning procedure that an individual always decides to carry on religious rituals in which the person was educated. An individual is directed by the people in her or his life involving family like parents, grandparents or people who educate the person to have a trust in religion. An individual chooses decisions to carry on in actualizing and trusting the religion in which he or she was directed and therefore the individual persists on the phase and educates his or her children to have trust on it. Religion becomes a tradition for people permitting the people to associate with people which rely on the identical things and create a type of community. Religion and culture compliment and influence each other in how individuals connect with each other.
Sexual integrity and orientation influence a person’s beliefs in sexual connections with each other. Sexual integrity is affected by tradition that tells people how connections of a sexual nature must be handled and if sexual happiness must be treated as sinful. Tradition influences how people see the jobs of the two genders believing that men must go outside to work and women must only be at home. An individual’s sexual integrity can be affected by the traditions grasped in the individual’s culture

References
Santrock, J. W. (2010). A tropical approach to Life-span development (5th ed.). New York: The Mcgraw-Hill.
Sasaki, J. Y., & Kim, H. S. (2011). At the intersection of culture and religion: A culture analysis of religion's implications for secondary control and social affiliation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101(2),
401-414. doi:10.1037/a0021849

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