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Topic: How does the family influence values and expectations?

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1

alaseter

How does the family influence values and expectations?

2

When we are born, we are not born with a set of values and expectations, so we learn them from our parents or adults who raise us, primarily.  We learn not only through these adults teaching us, we learn by example and by watching/observing.  As we grow up and get to an age that we can understand what "values" are (and "expectations"), we can begin to internalize them.  However, we also can reject or test those values and expectations as children and young adults for many reasons, from doing so simply to be difficult to doing so knowing that we have done wrong, but want to see what it is like anyway.  Since we spend the most time with our families, they are the primary adults who influence our values and expectations for ourselves.

3

bgl5704

Nature vs. Nuture has been debated for as long as the question has been raised by researchers. Is it our environment our family that shapes and molds our behavior. Or is it our genes and our genetic make-up that determines the way we act. To answer your question it is almost impossible to tell you the exact amount that the environment has on you. Because when you think about it everybody has a different amount of interactions and experiences with the environment.But when you talk about family and how does family only influence values and expectations this also depends on how much time one spends with his/her family. If the parents are only home for 1 hour each day then the family would have less of an impact on the child compared to stay at home parents. 

It also depends on very much on the rearing of the child. What are the values of the family? Is it an authoritative family or is it liberal family? If it was a child in a family that spends at least 85% of the hours he's awake with his/her family then family influence values and expectations greatly because they have so much interaction with each other. Take for example animals. When animals are born they stay close to their kin to learn how to hunt and survive. Humans are the same way. They stick with their families and learn from them how they survived. 

In contrast, if the child spends 85% of the hours he's awake away from the family but instead with his friends then the families influence, values, and expectations on the child would be minimized. 

4

We are heavily influences my our parents since from the formative years all of our time is spent with them.  We are impressionable in our youth and spending most if not all of our time with our parents can influnece us in many ways.  If our parents are religious, we might take on those beliefs.  If our parents drink, smoke, do drugs, that can become a habit for the child.  We cannot choose our parents and we might be influenced in negative ways, so its up to the individual to discover their own values and expectations for themselves.

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