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Culture 2 is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups. Culture is often originated from or attributed to a specific region or location. Humans acquire culture through the learning processes of enculturation and socialization, which is shown by the diversity of cultures across societies. A cultural norm codifies acceptable conduct in society; it serves as a guideline for behavior, dress, language, and demeanor in a situation, which serves as a template for expectations in a social group. Accepting only a monoculture in a social group can bear risks, just as a single species can wither in the face of environmental change, for lack of functional responses to the change. Thus in military culture, valor is counted a typical behavior for an individual and duty, … read more

Psychological cognitive equilibrium, a state of balance between individuals’ mental schemata, or frameworks, and their environment. Such balance occurs when their expectations, based on prior knowledge, fit with new knowledge. The Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget used the concept of equilibrium to describe one of four critical factors in cognitive development, the others being maturation, physical environment, and social interaction. Piaget conceived equilibration as an ongoing process that refines and transforms mental structures, constituting the basis of cognitive development. More equilibration tends to occur as an individual is transitioning from one major developmental stage to the next. Equilibration also explains an individual’s motivation for development. Individuals naturally seek equilibrium because disequilibrium, which is a mismatch between one’s way of thinking and one’s environment, is inherently dissatisfying. When individuals encounter new discrepant information, they enter into a state of disequilibrium. In order to return to a state of equilibrium, individuals can ignore … read more