How Your Surroundings Shape Your Personality: Culture & The Science of Self

Research is revealing the roles of both genetic predisposition (nature) and environmental factors (nurture) in shaping human personality. Recent findings suggest that human traits are determined by a combination of biological DNA and the cultural background of the place of residence, and, in particular, social norms and values greatly influence an individual’s value judgments and brain responses. Cultural differences, such as Western individualism and Eastern collectivism, alter not only personality but also the way people perceive things and respond to authority.

Miriam Frankel conducted research demonstrating that our self could be entirely different had we grown up elsewhere. Human identity is a flexible result shaped by constant interaction with the surrounding environment.

The Alchemy of Environment: How Culture Shapes ‘Who’ We Are

Frankel recalled a childhood memory of sharing puffed rice coated in mustard oil with a cousin in a humble village in Kolkata, India. Her cousin, curious, asked, “Do Swedish people really eat cows and pigs? Do they even eat dogs and cats?” For Frankel, raised in Sweden, cows were simply a part of everyday life, but for her cousin, who deeply loved animals, it was unimaginable.

This simple conversation raises a profound question: If we had grown up with different latitudes and longitudes, in a different culture, how would our moral standards, humor, and dreams have changed? We are unfinished works of art, sculpted by both genetic code and environmental factors.

Genes as Sheet Music, Environment as the Conductor

Ziada Ayorech, a researcher, experienced how location reshapes human perspectives by living in Uganda, Canada, the UK, and Norway. She asserts that DNA determines our hardware, but it is not the whole story. Scientists tracked 14 million twins over 50 years. The results showed that genetic factors account for an average of 50% of human traits. The other half is filled with the soil of the land we stand on and the voices of the people we meet.

Personality’s Topography: Essence and Variation Revealed with Age

Interestingly, intelligence (IQ) becomes more genetically influenced with age, whereas personality remains more open to environmental change. Even Ayorech, naturally extroverted, found her behavior changing after moving to Norway, where cultural norms discouraged striking up conversations with strangers. This demonstrates how a specific culture can reshape an individual’s personality expression.

Culture Designs the Brain: Mother and Self

Culture goes beyond simple habits and redesigns our brain circuitry. Huang Ching-Yu’s brain scans demonstrated the absolute importance of culture in self-formation. Westerners activate the ‘self-awareness’ area of the brain only when thinking of themselves, while East Asians activate the same area when thinking of their mothers.

Where the Eye Lands: Seeing the Object or the Context

Even how we perceive the world is a product of culture. When observing an underwater scene, Westerners focus on individual objects like ‘fish,’ while Japanese people first read the ‘background and relationship’ of the water and plants. This cognitive difference extends to interpreting interpersonal relationships.

A Flexible Self: Monumental or Fluid?

Western culture views the self as a solid entity, while East Asian culture sees it as a flow that changes with the situation. We are not fixed statues, but possibilities that are newly defined each time we encounter a new environment.

You are a Miracle Reborn Every Moment

We are woven from the warp and weft of genetics and environment. But we are not passive products of the environment. We, like Ayorech, can actively choose environments that best realize our potential. Consider what portion of your current character is due to the wind and sunshine of your birthplace. We are not already decided, but infinite possibilities that will bloom in different colors depending on the environment we meet tomorrow.