With the increasing levels of globalization, it has become easy for people to share ideas and cultural aspects with others located in different parts of the world. Culture refers mainly to the values, beliefs, and norms held dearly by a certain group of people. Therefore, it determines the way people live, interacts, learns, and behave (Chen & Rubin, 2011). The cultural elements limit the freedom of people and dictates what people will perceive as the norm. This paper will analyze in-depth the role that culture plays in individual development.

Individual development can be described simply as the outcome of interactions. The interaction between parents and their children plays a significant role in growth and development. For instance, when the parents play with their children, the children are likely to open up and share their ideas or any issues affecting their growth and development. However, in Mayan Culture in Guatemala, some mothers find it an embarrassing idea to play with their children. According to this culture, the role of the player is given to other children or their grandparents. In such cultures, the growth of the child can be easily curtailed by the external environment. Negative influence by peers might affect the behavior of the children. In such cases, parents might fail to note any change in their children’s behavior (Rogoff, 2003). As a result, many parents might get in shock when they note that their children are using drugs or engaging in criminal activities. However, this could have been changed if the culture allowed parents to interact with their children.

Individual development is the outcome of interactions between biological organisms and environmental influences. In many cases, people consider nature and nurture as outdated distinction. Children learn how to read and write through various routes of cultural transmission. A human culture that is a collection of material cultural artifacts has a major impact on a person’s growth and development. Therefore, culture does not involve learning socially. Instead, it is constituted by the use of cultural artifacts built or innovated by the previous generations.