CULTURE AND

MORAL BEHAVIOR
 CULTURE AND ETHICS
❑ Zimmerman (2017) explicated culture as the characteristics and
awareness of a specific community of people, including language,
religion, food, social behavior, etiquette, fashion, music, and arts.
❑ It is the sum of attitudes, values, goals, and practices shared by
individuals in a group, organization, or society.
❑ Cultures vary over time periods, between countries and geographic
regions, and among groups and organizations.
❑ Culture reflects the moral and ethical beliefs and standards
that speak to how people should behave and interact.
 CULTURE AND ETHICS
❑ Cultural norms are the shared, sanctioned, and integrated systems
of beliefs and practices that are passed down through generations
and characterize a cultural group.
❑ They act as prescriptions for correct and moral behavior, lend
meaning and coherence to life, and provide a means of achieving a
sense of integrity, safety, and belonging.
 CULTURE AND ETHICS
❑ These normative beliefs, together with related cultural values and
rituals, impose a sense of order and control on aspects of life that
might otherwise appear chaotic or unpredictable.
❑ This is where culture intersects with ethics. Since interpretations of
what is moral are influenced by cultural norms, the possibility
exists that what is ethical to one group will not be considered so by
someone living in a different culture.
 THE INFLUENCES OF CULTURE IN
MORAL DEVELOPMENT
Leano & Gubia-on (2018) shared five points in how culture influences the
moral development of the people and these are the following:
❑ Culture is always social and communal by which the relationship of the people
towards one another and their experience as people are the culture’s meadow.
❑ Culture defines the normative principles and behaviors of society.
❑ Culture, as best exemplified in the experience of the people, develops
restrictions and sets boundaries and limitations as they live and relate with one
another.
❑ As culture helps in generating the character and identity of its people,
it also includes their moral character.
❑ Culture identifies the authorities or the governing bodies.
 THE INFLUENCES OF CULTURE IN
MORAL DEVELOPMENT
Culture is always social and communal by which the relationship of the
people towards one another and their experience as people are the
culture’s meadow.
❑ Culture is social and communal in character where the people establish
and develop their relationships with each other and learned from their
experiences with them in the community. Laws, norms, values, and
attitudes serve as a binding force to enhance their relationships.
 THE INFLUENCES OF CULTURE IN
MORAL DEVELOPMENT
Culture defines the normative principles and behaviors of society.
❑ This refers to the definition of the principles and behaviors to be
maintained, preserved, and changed for the benefit and best interest of
the members of the community. From the relationship and experience
of the members of the community where the community itself would
be able to form certain normative principles and behaviors to be relayed
and to be taught to the members of that community.
 THE INFLUENCES OF CULTURE IN
MORAL DEVELOPMENT
Culture, as best exemplified in the experience of the people, develops
restrictions and sets boundaries and limitations as they live and relate
with one another.
❑ The restrictions and boundaries will serve as the protection and security
of the members of the community. Laws, rules, principles, and norms
will be the guidelines for the members of the community to behave
accordingly, and if not then they will be subject to the punishment or
sanction embedded in their culture.
 THE INFLUENCES OF CULTURE IN
MORAL DEVELOPMENT
As culture helps in generating the character and identity of its people, it
also includes their moral character.
❑ Culture shapes the character and identity of the members of the
community through the norms, standards, rules, regulations, and laws. If
the community is traditional or modern in character then that is the way
the members of the community will learn and experience.
 THE INFLUENCES OF CULTURE IN
MORAL DEVELOPMENT
The culture identifies the authorities or the governing individuals or
groups.
❑ The authorities serve as the maker, interpreter, and implementer of the
laws, rules, and regulations that they have in the community. Whatever
system of governance that they have, the roles and duties to play in the
community and their moral judgment is important in moral issues in the
community.
❑ In the family, the parents have the moral authority over their
children which is also essential for the moral development of
the members of the family.