Purpose of assignment: to present a motivational speech to a group of graduating year 12 students. In order to understand how humans are motivated, you first need to understand how the human brain works. Your intended audience for your speech is a group of graduating year 12 students – teenagers. Therefore we have concentrated on the teenage brain works.

What is friendship? What attracts us to some people rather than others? What does our choice of friends reveal about us? What qualities do we look for in a friend? These questions relate to the way we construct our identity and how we establish our place in the world – that is, it is a critical element towards knowing where we belong. The need to belong is a powerful motivation: we will often modify our dress, or taste in music, or values and even our behaviour to fit in and gain acceptance. What examples can you come up with of people modifying behaviour for acceptance?

Puberty Blues – Debbie and Sue want to hang out with the Green Hills who are the most popular group in school.

In Puberty Blues we see how the desire for group membership is important for the survival of the individual but problems can emerge when the individual places loyalty to the group above all other considerations, and the values that the group adopts/advocates are ‘anti-social’ – that is, contrary to the harmony of the community in which the group (gang) is embedded. Acceptance by, and continued membership of the group depends on adherence to the group’s values, which then may inform behaviours that are seen by authority figures trying to uphold the values of the larger community (teachers, the police, parents etc.) as problematic.

Values – are about how we have learnt to things ought to be or people ought to behave, especially in terms of qualities such as honesty, integrity and openness which when people are asked what are their values tend to be the main values. Attitudes – are the established ways of responding to people and situations that we have learned, based on beliefs, values and assumptions we hold. Hoe we respond to situations and our behaviour can reflect our attitude. However we can control our behaviour in a way that does not reflect our beliefs and values. Which in order to embrace a diverse culture and behaviours as a successful manager we have to adapt our behaviour in a positive manner. Beliefs – are the assumptions we make about ourselves, about others in the world and about how we expect things to be. Beliefs are about how we think things really are. Beliefs tend to be deep set our values stem from our beliefs.

1.How are cultural “rules” different from legal rules? 2.Who decides what values are important? 3.Why are some maintained across time and place and not others? 4.What are/can be the consequences for “individuals” who challenge cultural norms?

1.How are cultural “rules” different from legal rules?  Effectively cultural “rules” are the norms that are accepted by society in different cultures. Each culture has its own rules about proper behaviour which affect verbal and nonverbal communication. Whether one looks the other person in the eye-or not; whether one says what one means overtly or talks around the issue; how close the people stand to each other when they are talking--all of these and many more are rules of politeness which differ from culture to culture.  Legal rules are what societies HAVE to abide by. They are what govern society to run smoothly and cooperatively.

2. Who decides what values are important?  Society today values political correctness, not stepping on anyone's toes, making sure we're all treated equally (in theory.)Make sure a person can do whatever they want within the law - until that law is repealed. Basically it is meant to be society who should decide what values are important but I think it is more down by government/politicians and a minority of the rest of the public.

3. Why are some maintained across time and place and not others?  Cultures provide people with ways of thinking- -ways of seeing, hearing, and interpreting the world. Thus the same words can mean different things to people from different cultures, even when they talk the "same" language.  Cross-cultural understanding/ world views  Different cultures regulate the display of emotion differently. Some cultures get very emotional when they are debating an issue. They yell, they cry, they exhibit their anger, fear, frustration, and other feelings openly. Other cultures try to keep their emotions hidden, exhibiting or sharing only the "rational" or factual aspects of the situation.

4. What are/can be the consequences for “individuals” who challenge cultural norms? Social norms are described by sociologists as being laws that govern society’s behaviors. Although these norms are not considered to be formal laws within society, they still work to promote a great deal of social control. Social norms can be enforced formally (e.g., through sanctions) or informally (e.g., through body language and non-verbal communication cues.) If people do not follow these norms then they become labelled as deviants and this can lead to them being considered the outcast of society. What is considered “normal” is relative to the location of the culture in which the social interaction is taking place. Norms in every culture create conformity that allows for people to become socialized to the culture in which they live

Before you start – I want you to have your homework sitting on your desk so I can come around and have a look while you are reading.