In a perpetual quest to better understand human behavior, people are challenged to look inward. Understanding the roots of human psychology is key to comprehending why humans display certain behavior, harbor particular attitudes, and react to situations with specific emotions. Clyde Kluckhohn's Mirror for Man, suggests it is cultural upbringing, not genetic makeup, which causes each individual's behavior. Kluckhohn attributes people's behavior to the fact that, "they were brought up that way." In my opinion, Kluckhohn's position is accurate on a grand level. The culture in which a person is raised reflects their values, attitudes, and behavior.

Kluckhohn uses several paradigms to illustrate cultural influence on behavior, the best of which involves the dissimilar marital customs of the United States and the Koryak people of Siberia. An American woman, according to Kluckhohn, would find the idea of polygamy to be abhorrent. Americans are raised in an environment with...