The following factors account for the development of culture:

  1. Human biological needs and drives. From the psychological standpoint, a need is a bodily lack or deprivation without which the human body stands to perish. This includes the need for food, water, air and sunlight, locomotion, rest and sleep, elimination of the body wastes, and sex. On the other hand, a drive is that inner force or internal tension which impels a person to do something to satisfy the need and restore internal balance or equilibrium, Example: Hunger, thirst, and sex drive. In human societies, biological drives necessary for survival acquire social and cultural significance. While hunger, thirst and sexual desire are natural biological processes, society and culture dictate the kind of food to be eaten, the kind of liquid to be taken, the kind of clothing to be worn, the kind of sports and recreation to be engaged in, and even the kind of person to be taken in as mate and the social conditions for mating. Culture provides a variety of choices for the individual to satisfy his drives and needs.
  2. Psychological processes. These refer to the totality and integration of an individual’s mental and thought processes, such as cognition, perception, memory, emotions, and other thinking processes. While these psychological processes are natural biological processes, they are conditioned and affected by the environment, the society and culture. The content of one’s thoughts, observations and interpretations, the nobility of his emotions or the ingenuity of his ideas are conditioned and affected by the environment and culture of the society in which he lives.
  3. Man’s highly developed nervous system. Clinical and genetic studies have shown that man’s nervous system is much more developed and complex as compared to that of animals. This biological difference enables man to emerge with a superior intelligence necessary for effective adaptation to his environment and the resolution of the problems of existence. He develops learned ways of doing things and fashioned materials from his environment to come up with useful products or man-made objects. He develops culture. Culture differentiates man from animals and places him on top of the hierarchy of the animal kingdom.
  4. Man’s highly developed vocal apparatus. While many, if not all, animals produce a particular distinct sound, man is endowed with a highly complex vocal apparatus for effective speech or language. Language is an indispensable factor in the development and transmission of culture.
  5. Man’s upright posture. With the exception of the monkeys, apes, chimpanzees, and other man’s “simian” cousins, man differs from other animals on account of his upright posture or vertical position. This characteristic allows for the freedom of the arms and hands to be used for more creative and manipulative activities. Coupled with this characteristic is his opposable thumb and dexterous fingers for more delicate handling and manipulation of objects. It is almost unthinkable for culture to be developed if man’s hands are fixed to the ground for locomotion like most land animals.
  6. Physical and social environment. The physical or natural environment greatly affects man’s economic activities for the satisfaction of his needs and wants. It can condition man to limit his choices on the available resources found in his immediate environment. For instance, the kind of house to be built, the kind of food to be eaten, the kind of crops to be planted, the kind of animals to be domesticated, or the kind of clothes to be worn. The scarcity of material resources can induce or motivate man to become more resourceful and inventive. Thus, it has been stated that “need is the mother of invention.”
    On the other hand, the social environment composed of the people around him and the patterns and quality of social interactions composed of the people provide him with the necessary socialization for his effective participation in the society. His physical, mental, social, emotional, and spiritual needs are nurtured by his social environment.
Factors That Account for Diversities or Differences in Culture

While all peoples have their respective cultures, there are observable differences in their cultural ways, practices, beliefs, norms, values and other cultural aspects. The following account for cultural differences:

  1. Cultural variability. There are differences in culture because people devise different solutions to the problems of existence. People make choices to satisfy their varied needs. While some people stick to their traditional and conservative values and ways of doing things, others who are more enterprising and change-oriented seek new ways of satisfying their needs and interests through inventions, innovations, and advanced technologies. There are observable differences in the behavioural manifestations of similar cultural patterns.
  2. Cultural relativity. Differences in culture also arise due to differences in beliefs, values, norms and standards that societies use for interpreting the same or similar cultural trait. Standards of behaviour must be understood within a society’s cultural context.
  3. Environmental differences. People live in different kinds of environment. According to Huxley – (1965), among the factors that give rise to cultural differences are the kind of one’s environment, the available human and natural resources, the extent of exposure to other people from whom they can borrow ideas and their cultural heritage.
  4. Human ingenuity and ability to absorb and expand new culture. Although human beings are similarly endowed with the same biological make-up, some people appear to be more adaptive, integrative, creative and responsive to their natural and social environments. Some people are more inventive: they are risk-takers and trail-blazers with pioneering spirits, adventurers and innovators.