What varies from culture to culture?

Modes of behaviour based on accepted values held by the majority of people in that culture or society…..Manners!

The ‘Natalia’s Manifesto of Manners’ page is Image Power Australia’s organisational value statement.

What is yours?  Have you thought about the values you consider important?

Science is now confirming what we always knew but couldn’t prove, that biologically humans are ‘wired’ to connect. In The 1980’s Jon Cacioppo and Gary Bernston pioneered a new field of research called social neuroscience.  This has since demonstrated that positive social connections assist to maintain both emotional and biological health and well being.

From E.L. Thorndike and Abraham Maslow through to Edward T. Hall and more recently Martin Seligman and Daniel Goleman, research has indicated that the need to connect is a basic human instinct that affects every part of our lives.  Studies at Carnegie Melon University indicate that isolation could be as bad for your health as smoking.

Social intelligence is a combination of social awareness and social facility.  Social awareness includes empathy and the ability of synchrony (being able to tune into a situation).  Social facility includes self presentation and practical and contextually appropriate social actions.

Mirror neurones in the brain assist us to ‘tune in’ and develop and display empathy, while spindle cells enable us to make snap social decisions.  When we experience positive social interactions, ‘feel good’ hormones, that also massage the immune system, are released into the body.  There are hundreds of mechanisms ‘wired’ into our physical systems that are designed to assist us to engage with other humans, but more importantly, it appears that these functions can be improved and developed with training and practice.

Although the need to connect is innate, we aren’t born with social skills.  These are not innate – they are learned.  We learn by watching others interact and modelling our behaviour.  We also learn by experiencing the rough and tumble of the group process.  Whether within a family environment or a business networking situation, the ability to create easy and co-operative interactions is a skill that can be developed and utilised to increase the opportunity for future success and well being.

This ability to cross into any group and communicate effectively appears to play a major role in the development personal resilience.  Those of us who can adjust to changing situations and make them work for us, wherever we are and whatever it is we are going through at any particular time, appear to have a higher built in ‘bounce-back’ mechanism when there is contact and support from others.

Natalia Josephs 2008