Social context strongly influences our values. The complexity of this effect shapes our morality and feelings of importance. It also affects our goals, self-worth, and relationships. Socialization teaches us about our community’s customs, beliefs, and values, influencing our values. Family, school, religious organizations, peers, and others help children develop socialization. Media influences what is normal or acceptable in our culture. Our societal environment heavily encourages the values we keep pricey in intricate and crucial methods. These impacts can both limit or beautify our capability to steer actual lives.
Socialization teaches us social norms and values. Some societies value hard labor, success, and material wealth, while others value community, cooperation, and spiritual fulfillment. Internalization influences our values, which are shaped by society. This complex process involves conscious and subconscious components when we accept societal values.
As we adopt communal values, we see them as fair and beneficial. Following these principles becomes a core part of us. This can influence our behavior, motivating us to act according to our values even in difficult times. Our society shapes our ideals in work, relationships, finances, and politics. Our values may be limited by community, and maintaining preferences in cultures that do not value what one values is difficult. In a materialistic society, a simple life may be challenging to achieve.
Maya Angelou’s values have been molded by her societal context, as depicted in her essay “Graduation.” Raised in a place of segregation and oppression where African Americans faced discrimination and marginalization, Angelou changed into taught crucial standards like being dignified, having self-recognition, and appreciating schooling via her dad and mom (Angelou). Angelou writes, “My mom had told me that I changed into smart and should do anything I set my mind to. She said I might be a physician, a legal professional, or a trainer if I wanted to. She said I could be whatever I desired, besides a maid (Angelou).” Angelou’s sense of self-confidence and ambition were deeply ingrained in her via the empowering phrases of her mother. Despite any hurdles, she remained fiercely focused on reaching achievement.
Lars Eighner details in his essay entitled “On Dumpster Diving” how his society shaped his ideals considerably. To steer a more simplistic and environmentally aware lifestyle, he opted for dumpster diving as a way of sustenance. Nevertheless, this decision was not without its barriers that stemmed from societal perspectives in the direction of such selections (Lars Eighner). Eighner writes, “I become frequently treated like a 2nd-magnificence citizen. People could move the street to avoid me. They could name me names. They could throw things at me. But I did not let it trouble me. I knew I was living a perfect existence, even though it became distinct from what most people were used to.” Through Eighner’s narrative, it is far obtrusive that our moral ideals can be limited by our societal context (Lars Eighner). Although he led an existence aligned with his concepts, a giant proportion of the populace no longer esteemed his unconventional lifestyle, resulting in numerous limitations and difficulties.
In conclusion, the values we maintain are shaped by the context of our society; that is a profoundly intricate technique. This setting effectively affects how we understand ideas, including suitable and awful, correct and incorrect, or essential versus unimportant.
Work Cited
Angelou, Maya. Graduation. Perfection Learning Corporation, 1990.
Lars Eighner. “On Dumpster Diving.” New England Journal of Public Policy, vol. 24, no. 1, Jan. 1992, p. 10. Accessed 29 Sept. 2023.
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