9 that lay behind people’s behavior, and which are reflected in their behavior. In this
theory, culture has a lot of dimension such as abstract values, beliefs, and perceptions, which will be reflected upon the person who lives under that culture.
As a result, it can be inferred that culture is a wide dimension which has a close
relationship not only with the society but also with the individual who lives in it. The members of the society will reflect the culture of their society through their
behavior.
b. The Culture’s Influence toward Someone’s Social Behavior
The elements of culture are developed by the society. Dealing with the cultural backgrounds of the main characters in this novel which are related to the
society, the writer will present some theories about the influence of culture toward one’s social behavior.
Light, Keller, and Calhoun 1989: 71-72 state that the relationship between culture and behavior has two sides. On one hand, culture provides
traditions and rules that guide how people think, feel, and behave, and how people evaluate others’ thoughts, feelings, and actions. On the other hand, people use,
develop, and usually change their culture. They also state that society refers to the network of social relationships among those who share a culture and that culture is
used to give meaning to social interactions as well as the result of social interaction.
Baron and Byrne 1997: 9-13 propose that social behavior is shaped by a seemingly endless list of variables. They give some numbers of major specific
factors influencing one’s behavior. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
10 The first one is the behavior and characteristics of other persons. The
importance of one’s position in the society can strongly affect his behavior. For example, an employer will easily influence his servant because hisher position is
considered higher than the servant’s. The second factor is the social cognition one’s thoughts, attitudes and
inferences about other people around him. It is the aspect that affects one’s thoughts, ideas and judgments on other people. If someone has a good judgment
on other people, then heshe may follow or imitate their behavior. The third one is an ecological variable. The term ‘ecological variable’
refers to the social ecological circumstances around an individual such as the condition of the environment, the house, the city, etc. For example, if a person
lives in the place where heshe feels comfortable, heshe will likely have an unchanged behavior. On the other hand, if a person lives in the place where heshe
feels hard to live, then heshe may have certain behavior that leads himher to change the condition to be better.
The fourth aspect is the socio cultural context in which a social behavior occurs. Such factors as cultural norms and regulations will affect one’s behavior.
Societal standards or values shifting can influence one’s behavior. In this novel, the main characters are mostly influenced by cultural norms that they have which
later will affect their relationship. The fifth one is the aspect of one’s biological nature relevant to social
behavior. The last factor is the physical condition of the person himherself. Hisher ability to accept any social information will help himher to change hisher
old behavior and subsequently imitate or adopt another behavior from the society. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
