CULTURE AND

ITS TO ROLE IN
MORAL
BEHAVIOR
CULTURE
• Reflects the moral values and ethical norms governing how
people should behave and interact with others
• Refers to the outlook, attitude, values, goals, and practices
shared by a group, organization, or society
• Vary over time periods between countries and geographic
regions, and among groups and organizations
MORAL BEHAVIOR
Action or actions that produce good outcomes for the
individuals as members of a community, or society. It can be
applied to the whole global society. Schuman defines moral
behavior as “Act intended to produce kind and /or fair outcomes
To act according to ones moral values and standards. Children
demonstrate prosocial and moral behavior when they share,
help, co-operate, communicate, sympathize or in otherwise they
demonstrate ability to care about others.
There are different sources that might
influence the way a person behaves morally,
these include our family, the community we
belong, the religion we practice, our school,
and even the virtual world we see- the social
media. These factors may, in one way or
another, affect our behaviour as a moral
person.
 THE FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE A PERSONS
MORAL BEHAVIOR

Family – the basic unit in a society. It includes

one’s biological or adoptive family of
orientation. The same provides us with our
basic needs to survive and develop as a
significant member of the society.
School – it may include formal or
non- formal educational system that
provides a child with his learning
needs.
Church – the institution that
determines what is specifically
considered as right or wrong. It is
composed of believers in the same
faith.
Mass media – those agencies that are
purposive of entertaining, informing and
educating through various channels
like the radio, television, printed
materials etc.
CULTURAL NORMS

•Are the shared, sanctioned, and

integrated systems of beliefs and practices
that are passed down through generations
and characterize a cultural group
NORMS
• Cultivate reliable guidelines for daily living and contribute to the
health and well-being of a culture
• 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
• 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
EXAMPLE

The French and Americans have different views on whistle-

blowing. Compared to the French, American companies
consider it to be a natural part of business. So natural, in
fact, that they set up anonymous hotlines. The French, on
the other hand, tend to view whistle-blowing as
undermining solidarity among coworkers. French, on the
other hand, tend to view whistle-blowing as undermining
solidarity among coworkers.
 CULTURAL BEHAVIOR
Cultures vary substantially in both moral judgements and
moral behaviors. Cultural variations in morality within the
societies can vary much as cultural variations in morality
between societies. Cultural factors contributing to this
variation includes religion, social ecology (weather, crop
conditions, population density, pathogen prevalence,
residential mobility), and regulatory social institutions
such as kinship structures and economic markets.
This variability raises questions for normative
theories of morality, but also holds promise for
future descriptive work on moral thought and
behavior.
Examples of within societal cultural differences on
morality, to shoe that these can be as substantial and
important as cross-societal differences. Whether
between or within nations and societies, cultures
vary substantially in their promotion and
transmission of a multitude of moral judgements and
behaviors.
Cultural behavior is
behavior exhibited by
humans (and, some would
argue, by other species as
well, though to a much
lesser degree) that is
extrasomatic or
extragenetic—in other
words, learned.

Example:
This is certainly a complex feat of
engineering, but it is not cultural. This
behavior is instinctive, built into the ants'
behavior mechanisms. They cannot alter
their plans or think of better ways to join
leaves. They cannot teach or be taught to do
so.However, there are examples of animals
that can learn behaviors, such as dogs and
cats.
• A dog doesn't know instinctively not to
urinate or defecate indoors, but it can be
taught not to do so.
• Dogs are capable of learning specific
behaviors.
• A dog's acquisition of a behavior satisfies
one of the requirements of culture, but it
also fulfills another.
• If you were to take a dog that has learned
not to eliminate indoors to a different
house, it would still know not to urinate
there.
• This is because the dog has made a
generalization. It knows not to urinate or
defecate in any house, not just the one in
which it was taught.
•Cultural behavior must
involve the use of artifacts.

•Example in the animal

world is the termite stick.
It is not genetically programmed. Not all
chimps do it, as would happen if it were built
into the chimps’ genes. It involves several
complex generalizations and ides, involving
understanding the termites’ behavior and how
to exploit it and conceiving of a tool with
which to do so. It is taught by mother chimps
to their offspring and ir involves the use of an
artifact: the stick itself
 CULTURAL RELATIVISM
Is the view that ethical system and cultural beliefs
vary from one culture to another. It is uphold that
said ethical system are all equal in validity and of
relevance. It cames from the idea that moral
standards are product of society. This
philosophical principle started from the Greek
philosopher Protagoras Of Abdera.
Protagoras of Abdera - was born in
Abdera, a costal town in northern- must
Aegean Sea. He was said to be the oldest
and the most influence among all the
sophists who had came to Athens. He
spent the most of his adult life travelling
throughout the Greek impire, teaching
everyone for a fee. He was probably the
first Greek to earn money in higher
education and was considered as the most
notorious for the extremely high fees he
charged. As a teacher, his audience
consisted mainly of wealthy men from
Athens’ social and commercial elite.
Protagoras is known for three claims:

1.That man is the measure of all things, of the things are not that they are
not.

2.That he could make the worse argument appear better or weaker

argument appear to be not stronger.

3.That one could not tell if the Gods existed or not.

According to Protagoras, knowledge is limited to the persons various

perceptions. But such perceptions will differ with each person. He believed
that man’s knowledge is measured by what he perceived.
Moral Relativism - is the idea that there is no
universal or absolute set of moral principle. Its a
version of morality that advocates “to each her
own,” and those who follow it say “who am I to
judge?”

Protagoras believed that the young should be

educated to accept and support the tradition of
their society, not because this tradition is true
but because it makes possible a stable society.
Doctrine of Ethical Relativism - also known as moral relativism is
the ideas arises when the laws and moral rules are based, not upon
nature but upon convention.

Moral Relativist - went on with the idea of Protagoras by saying

what is moral relativism. Standards of right and wrong are always
relative to a particular culture. Argue that there exist no point from
which these norms can be upheld, no universal or absolute criteria
they can be criticized. Would have the claim that whether an action
as regard right or wrong depends upon the society judging it. They
claim that the different sets of moral principles are of equal worth
and nobody can claim that their moral beliefs and culture is better
than that of the others.
Ethical relativism - appears to be self-contradictory and inconsistent. In as much as
this ethical school of thought upholds the idea that there is no absolute truth and
that truth is relative to the systems of belief of every culture, they, therefore, should
not insist that their theory should not be accepted by everyone. This is because
everybody would accept their ethical theory, then it will already be contradicting
their belief that there is no absolute truth.
- must not accept the ethical relativists own ethical belief.
Another issue is the sense of thoughtless that one feels towards persons who are
victims of an accident. This sense of thoughtless does not depend on one’s
sociocultural considerations or upbringings. Nevertheless, it has almost become part
of every individual to have always the desire to be a service to those who are in
need. This is actually part of the fulfillment of a person as a person. In this case,
whether we are in Christians or Muslims, we seem to be always obliged to lend a
helping hand to those who are in need. This consideration shows that ethical
relativism is open to serious doubt and does not seem to be correct in all cases.
 ASIAN AND FILIPINO MORAL
BEHAVIOR
Moral Behavior.

To act accordingly to ones moral values and standards.

Children demonstrate pro social and moral behavior
when they share, help, co-operate, communicate,
sympathize or in otherwise they demonstrate ability to
care about others.
Norms.
Are expectation of proper behavior not the requirement of that
behavior. Normas are the way that individual expects all the people to
act in a given situation. Norms are informal about what is considered
normal (what is correct or incorrect) social behavior in a particular
group or social unit.

Types of Norms
1. Formal social norms are based on the societis laws. The laws are created by
Us for us so we can live in peace as a society.
2. Informal social norms are the norms we have that are based on culture and
social interactions, these very between groups in the same society and
cultures depending on your social identity and group belonging
Types of Informal Norms
• Mores is a set of moral norms or customs derived from generally accepted
practices. Mores derive from the established practices of a society rather
than its written laws.
• Folkway A custom or belief common to members of a society or culture.

Values.
Values are a collective representation of what constitutes a good
life or a good society. Values are important and lasting belief or
ideals shared by members of a culture about what is good or bad
or desirable or undesirables. Values have major influence on a
person’s behavior and attitude and serve as broad guidelines in
all situation.
https://youtu.be/IazZLVwUJUA

FILIPINO CORE VALUES

1. Respect for elders (Paggalang sa nakatatanda)

2. Empathy (Pag-intindi sa nararamdaman ng iba)
3. Deep regard for fellow humans (Pakikipagkapwa-tao)
4. Patriotism (Pagiging makabayan)
5. Cultural continuity (Pagpapatuloy sa kultura)
Belief.
Belief are criteria of
abstract thought that does
not necessarily evoke
actions. It may instigate or
forces certain quest in the
environment that coheres
onto the behavior in a
certain manner.