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Introduction
Sociocultural factors usually exert their influence within a family structure. Examples of sociocultural factors are belief and value system, attitudes, levels of acculturation, objectives and practices of socialization, use of language in the home, etc. (González, 2001). Drame & Xu (2008), conducted an investigation in which they incorporated sociocultural factors in a model called Response to Intervention, which addresses the issue of overrepresentation of minority children in special education. Drame & Xu, ,2008) presented a model of five sociocultural contexts that emphasize relationships between the contexts involved in the educational process for an individual student, the social and cultural impact that it has on their performance.
For Dongo (2009), the social and cultural factors have a decisive importance in explaining the evolution of thought and points out that, it is common to think as social factors (p. 228) aspects of educational transmission and cultural traditions, which vary from one society to another, that is to say, in those collective social pressures that one thinks when one wants to explain the cognitive variations of one society to another, to begin with the different languages capable of exerting an important action on the operations themselves and on their contents. However, these collective pressures are not differentiated from the more general collective processes, such as the factors of interaction or interindividual coordination that cross different cultures and societies. This block treatment of the social factor, without the necessary differentiation of its modes of action, has hindered the analysis and the most adequate explanation of the development of reason and knowledge organized in systems of composition.
Yang (2002), examined the impact of sociocultural factors and motivation on the color coding ability of university students with different demographic and sociocultural backgrounds. He concluded that sociocultural factors are important in the performance made up of people of color. Rogers (2002), mentioned that the lack of preparation of students is influenced by some sociocultural factors instead of a lack of academic potential. Gonzalez (2001), believes that sociocultural factors have an influence within a family, the structure in which a type of mediation of the behavior of children and parents is seen, to adapt to the school system, parents and children tend to develop some sociocultural strategies. De Voss (1982), argued that "adaptation strategies are observable behaviors that occur within a particular sociocultural environment that is appropriate within the patterns and perceptions of the social group". (p.17) Walker, Greenwood, Hart & Carta (1994) argued that there is "a cumulative effect of sociocultural context of the home, community and school that will be linked to the presence of risk in the levels of academic achievement in children of linguistic minorities" (p.17). They argued that minority children are affected by the quality and quantity of their interaction with their parents and teachers.
Shin (2000), conducted a qualitative research on people who use pidgins (colloquial language) and discovered that there is a type of interface between the process of using colloquial language and sociocultural factors. He reviewed several models to explore the relationship of sociocultural factors with the second acquisition language, such as social distance from John Schuman, William Acton perceived social distance, cultural distance from Bjorg Saven & Douglas.
The optimal social distance of Monzó & Rueda (2001), discussed the impact of sociocultural culture factors on the interactions between Latino students and Latino teachers. They claim that sociocultural theory emphasizes the social nature of learning. Therefore, knowledge of the culture and communities of the students, their main language and the styles of interaction with those they are familiar with facilitate their academic and social needs. Macías Reyes (2010), understands as factors those aspects or conditions that are present and influence the action of men in the context of their activity; as cultural factors can then be understood as the set of conditions or cultural aspects present in the process of cultural development of individuals, groups, collectives, communities, nations, countries, that influence positively or negatively on cultural development.
For Guzmán & Caballero (2012), they point out that behind the word factors not only the social word is included, but also others, constructing compound terms as organic, psychological, biological, political, cultural, economic factors, etc. that are presented in a Another way in social reality, social factors, in this sense, have such a variegated content that expresses all areas and dimensions of society, including both individual and collective bearers given in individuals in the form of leaders, mass and people, and in social groups such as families, social classes, nations, states. They come to be composed of specific aspects of society such as politics, religion, work, communication, education, the environment, economics, law, etc. These authors carry out research in which they analyze the use of the term factors sociocultural and cite for example: conceptualizes social factors as conditions or means that generate change and affect the individual, the author points out as social factors properly social, family, community and individual. And in view of this definition, they point out that the author cites criteria that help to understand the concept she poses by resorting to causality.
The same authors point out that in some research, given the impossibility of defining sociocultural factors, they resort to providing the specific aspects or conditions that they take into account as social factors, such as poverty, population size, situations of war and violence among others, insisting that there has been a little theoretical concern in the use of the concept, on several occasions -the work of Emile Durkheim- only translated into indicators or, to an absolutization of empirical data.
For Cherfi (2010), sociocultural factors do not represent anything other than social class, lifestyle and life cycle:
Social class: refers to the position of an individual or a household on a scale based on criteria such as occupation, income or education level. In general, these people share the same interests (aspirations) and the same moral. It distinguishes two types of social structure: in the developed society, most people are on the average and, on the other hand, in the developing and underdeveloped society, the majority of the population lives below the threshold of poverty and occupies the lowest class.
Lifestyle: as a result of the inadequacy of the socio demographic variables explaining or understanding the behavior of the subject, the lifestyle refers to the expected way of life, in its widest acceptance, therefore, it is determined by elements such as culture, the symbolism of objects and moral values, in a certain sense, reflect the lifestyle of a society.
Life cycle: personal fulfillment requires the affirmation of one by identifying, establishing and fulfilling one's desires, in parallel professionally, familiarly and personally, as well as a state search and its individual and collective establishment.
Categorizes socio-cultural factors in:
Development
The term sociocultural is characterized by the extreme diversity of its uses and its definitions. Therefore, when making a quick review in the literature of social science dissemination, there is no precise definition, but rather a list of decreasing parameters, such as age, sex, employment status, standard of living. purchasing power, the course of life through (not) social mobility, the nature of leisure (in relation to the notion of purchasing power and its more or less cultural aspect), etc. The purpose of this chapter is not to provide a synthesis of these defining and notional aspects, but only two elements relevant to the purpose of the research will be taken into account.
On the one hand, the notion of socio-cultural is closely linked to the field of education, as demonstrated by the following few definitions, which were found, for example, are adjectival qualifying cultural characteristics and social situations in a social context, while for Grawitz (2004), are those factors that are part of a whole: family, environment, culture, society that intervene or not favorably in the behavior of the individual.
On the other hand, the sociocultural term has been in research, and still remains in the circulating social representations, frequently associated with the notion of exclusion (Grawitz, 2004), even of disadvantage, therefore, predominantly in the scientific community, the variable sociocultural is defined as a set of contextual elements related to the different social spaces in which any person evolves. In other words, in research, the notion of sociocultural is based mainly on an anthropological approach that helps to deconstruct and relativize norms and, more broadly, to question the conditions and processes of production, appropriation and legitimization of plural sociocultural practices. This raises the question of place, in society, but also in school, of diversity, among others, that is to say, individuals, as social actors, play a fundamental role in their unique way, both individually and collective, to mobilize and build the multiple factors covered by this notion, in a differentiated way and in different ways contextualized interaction processes.
The socio-cultural factors account for the behavior of the subjects in different social dimensions, bearers of individual and collective meaning, composed of specific social aspects such as: politics, religion, work, communication, education, economics, tradition, family, among others.
According to Guzmán & Caballero (2012), the analysis of social factors and their incidence in different problems and phenomena is common in many studies; however, in these there is a tendency not to conceptually define what is understood as such and to treat them indistinctly as: elements, aspects, conditions, situations, processes, institutions, actors participating in reality where they are concretely severely limited, continuing with the The authors suggest that the ideal would be to arrive at an abstract definition of social factors that has a general application for all realities, regardless of whether they acquire their specific characteristics or explanations.
Having defined the above, the interrelation of the objective and subjective aspects in the different instances of society must be specified, they also construct it with macro-micro, consensual-conflictive manifestations, which are captured and understood in empirical and theoretical ways, as Halpern explains. Halpern & Ruano Borlaban (2004), in their relations with others, individuals practice reciprocal influences among them. The behavior of individual results of both internal and external factors related to belonging to a group, socio-cultural factors constitute all the elements external to an individual, which can influence their behavior: belonging to groups, family, culture.
Both authors point out the notion of behavior within sociocultural factors, which are carried out through group and individual interactions, that is, behavior is the manifestation, the response given by an individual to a given situation, is also a function of the personality of the individual and their environment sociocultural factors). What both authors also suggest is that the personality of the subject impacts the behavior and this in turn personal, political, social, economic, social norms, values and life forms, without ruling out the importance and consequences of the event where it develops (Ruano, 1998).
Dongo (2009), makes a conceptualization of social factors in the educational and cultural transmission, noting that these factors have to do with educational cultural traditions that vary from one society to another and points out that social factor could be solidary with social interactions, if Educational and cultural transmissions will take place in the context of true inter-individual exchanges (dialogical relations, cooperation, mutual respect), it should be noted that their research is focused on cognitive development and have Piaget's contributions as a theoretical basis.
For Halpern & Ruano-Borbalan (2004), socio-cultural factors are represented by:
The reciprocal influence of the individual / group: The individual is a being who needs relationships with other people to build themselves. Through exchange, communication, individuals are influenced by the groups to which they belong; The group is also evolving under the influence of its members. Interpersonal relationships can be fostered by the proximity of individuals (family relationships, neighborhood, work ...) and information and communication technologies make it possible to relate to people. The group is considered as such when the people in this group have a reality, an objective, a sense of belonging and common and direct recognition of others.
Socialization structures: Family notions and role in the socialization process since the family designates several circles, a restricted one constituted by the parents, the expanded circle in the home that integrates other people living under one roof, the family gives to the subject a set of reference patterns, teaches certain values that she, within her culture, believes are good for him.
Institutions, organizations, groups: Property, religion, education, marriage, inheritance are social structures, practices, standards independent of their legal or organizational dimension. These institutions create a set of social rules that evolve under the influence of the social body. The socialization of individuals is based on these institutions, giving a frame of reference to social relations which are organized around institutions, respecting their legal or organizational framework.
The organization is a set of individuals and structured means to achieve an objective: an association, a company, a hospital are organizations.
The social group is a group of people who share common characteristics, is mid-three aspects: its structure, the emotional and the interdependence of these.
The group is a group of people who share individuals with links to each other, a common activity, shared objectives.
Culture: can be defined as a set of norms, values, beliefs, standards of behavior specific to the social group that conditions the way of life of the members of this group. Culture is a collective social representation: it emerges from models shared by all, admitted, even if this shows a restriction. Values consist of things, ways of being, ideals that affect behavior in the social group. They are based on morality (religious, social) and authority. They are translated into standards.
Another classification of sociocultural factors is the one offered by Fischer (1997), situating them as: influence on behavior and communication:
Culture: processes through which values, norms and skills are transmitted within the context of family and friends.
Values: principles that guide the action of an individual, a group. They are influenced by the ethical, moral and religious systems that prevail in the group to which the individual belongs.
Standards: references determined by the community or group.
Acculturation: set of phenomena resulting from contacts of different cultures.
Lifestyles: all the practices of everyday life.
Psychological factors: The personality is a set of aptitudes, behaviors, whose unity and permanence constitute the individuality, the uniqueness of each one. There are four main types of personality traits: Introversion / extraversion, autonomy / presentation, stability / instability, logical / affective.
Stereotype: set of beliefs that offers a simplified image of the members of a group to which we do not belong.
Prejudice: is to establish a negative judgment towards a group that is not their own. Prejudices can have serious consequences: suspicion, rejection, discrimination, racism.
For Baril & Paquette (2014) sociocultural factors are constituted by three fundamental elements, first, social relations for example: demography, social stratification, ethnocultural diversity, family structures, social relations (neighborhood, work, friendship), cooperation and competition, racism, sexism, social movements, solidarity, mutual aid, etc. Second, social rules, such as social norms, conventions, values, beliefs, customs, traditions, rituals, social climate, etc. and, finally, ideologies, doctrines, prejudices, science, artistic productions, communication (media, advertising), etc.
León Padilla (1976), points out that social factors and socio-cultural factors are wide and varied, making a classification that the author himself indicates "shallow": political factors, social classes and socio-economic status, population, family organization, occupation, education and religion
For Macías Reyes (2010), cultural factors facilitate not only know the distinctive features between groups within the same geographic and social space, it allows to understand, how the historical development has occurred, which makes it possible to explain the links that are established between the performances of individuals and groups and social dynamics. For the author cultural factors are not dimensions, nor elements, are determining conditions that report essentialities of human behavior, such as religiosity, customs and traditions, ie a set of meanings.
For Barkan (2013), sociocultural factors must refer to the social, since they are referred between groups of people who share the same life, region and culture, for this author sociocultural factors influence individuals, their attitudes, actions and beliefs (social norms) although I do not fully determine them. Rashotte (2007), instead suggests that sociocultural factors are nothing other than social influences such as the change in the individual, their thoughts, feelings, attitudes or behaviors that result from interaction with another individual or group, the author argues that has observed that a person commits a "real" modification to their feelings and behaviors when they are influenced by other subjects identified as similar, desirable or expert.
In general, the subjects change their beliefs according to others they consider similar, in addition, it is more likely that the individual adopts the same vision as their social group of reference (majorities). "Individuals are more inclined to change their opinions when they are influenced by an expert in the subject matter". (Rashotte, 2007)
The effect of external influences on the change of the individual's attitude is, in most cases instigated by the impact of social factors Kelman (1958), the same author, differentiates three varied practices of social influences that influence the behavior of the individual that are:
Fulfillment: when the subject adopts certain behavior with the expectation of obtaining rewards or avoiding punishment, not because he or she believes in its content.
Identification: when the subject accepts influence because he wants to maintain a rewarding and self-defined relationship with an individual or group.
Internalization: when the subject adopts a behavior because it is harmonious with its value system.
The process of social influence that Kelman (1958), through sociocultural factors, can be represented by subjective norms that demonstrate the direct effect of others. Subjects generally accept the power of subjective norms so that they can obtain the support and approval of other subjects whose opinions are meaningful to them.
When a person recognizes the influence creating or maintaining a self-defined positive relationship with another individual or group, then identification occurs. Therefore, identification indicates that the individual carefully selects a perception of belonging to a group (Bagozzi & Lee, 2002).
Kamentz & Mandl (2003), point out that sociocultural factors are synonymous with cultural influences, since cultural variables such as discursive conventions, professional styles, learning, culture, social position influence the way in which subjects think, feel and they act in specific environments, the result of inherited cultural value systems that have an influence on their actions (Kamentz & Mandl, 2003). The sociocultural factors for these authors are symbols, language, beliefs, values and artifacts that are part of any society, for Barkan (2013), the sociocultural factors consist of several social aspects: language, values, rules, tools, technologies, customs, products, organizations and institutions. Although, it mentions the relationship between them, it is complex because culture includes the objects of a society, at the same time to the subjects that are part of it, since those who share a common culture are part of the same society, therefore, of the same sociocultural factors.
The above definition means the importance of culture and society, especially when it influences the beliefs and behaviors of the individual. The subjects learn from their culture how to behave, and that is a key factor to separate the groups, in the same way the language differentiates people from others, and also influences how they use gestures when interacting, likewise the values are also considered as important influences on the subject and his acting in diverse environments.
In essence, without sociocultural factors the subjects would not have nor would constitute a society, Hasan and Ditsa (1999), point out that, of all the sociocultural factors that should be considered in the adoption of identity, for example, culture is probably the most difficult to isolate, define and measure and, points out that, although it is not easy to examine and measure culture, it is of high significance to understand diverse aspects of the subjects, the lack of understanding of the culture can lead to errors and tensions between the subjects , its acting and its context, for these authors as it has been possible to appreciate the factors are more cultural than social, the culture, according to Mead (1953), is a pattern of shared behavior, alternatively, Hofstede (1991), introduced culture as programming collective mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another. Boldley (1994), indicated that culture contains what people think, what people do, and what they produce, culture then shapes the values of the members of society, shapes their assumptions, shapes their perceptions and behaviors. Ghemawat & Reiche (2011), defined culture as a set of shared values, assumptions and beliefs that are learned through belonging to a group, which influences the attitudes and behaviors of group members. In this small paragraph of what is culture, two main ideas are derived: first, culture can be recognized as a collection of experiences that establishes a group of another. Second, culture is not a birthright for its people, but it is obtained through socialization.
It is important to note that for authors such as Al-Hunaiyyan, Al-Huwail & Al-Sharhan (2008), something essential of socio-cultural factors is language since it contains a meaning in addition to the alternative use and the difference it produces in one group from another. Language is central to interaction and, therefore, to any culture of society. People in a society learn the language of their culture, just as they learn other aspects of culture, such as what to eat or how to behave. The importance of language, according to is not only associated with interaction but extends to helping individuals to make their complex culture possible. Therefore, language affects the individual's understanding of the world around them.
In addition, it is important to clarify that, norms, standards and behavior expectations vary widely from one culture to another. The expectation of certain behavior in a culture influences how people behave, for the author there are, two different types of norms, formal norms (also called customs and laws) and informal norms (also known as customs and customs) norms Formal refer to the most critical standards of behavior in a society such as traffic laws, criminal codes, cheating and plagiarism in the educational environment. While informal rules refer to less critical behaviors in society, these norms still affect people, behaviors, such as manners at the table.
A variety of studies have identified ways in which socio-cultural factors shape people's values, attitudes and behaviors (Alves…et al., 2006; Hofstede, 1991, 2001a ; 2001b, 2003, 2006; Hofstede & Hofstede, 2005; House, et al., 2004; House, et al., 1999) and different cultures influence opinions and expectations regarding the way things should be done. Such influences affect the behavior of subjects in the workplace in different countries. (Sawadogo, 2016)
Hofstede (1991), identified five dimensions independent of each other, in terms of sociocultural factors, each rooted in a basic problem that all societies have to face, but in which responses vary, describe the dimensions as follows:
Power distance: related to the different solutions to the basic problem of human inequality.
Avoidance of uncertainty: related to the level of stress of the individual facing an unknown future
Individualism versus collectivism: related to the integration of individuals in primary groups.
Masculinity versus femininity: related to the division of emotional roles between men and women.
Long-term orientation versus short-term orientation: related to the choice of approach for people's efforts: the future or the present.
Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner (1998), have carried out investigations that are parallel to those of Hofstede (1991), in terms of sociocultural factors, argue that in addition to what was mentioned in previous lines, stereotypes are part of socio-cultural factors such as the need to understand individuals, these authors suggest a series of dimensions of opposition to culture, installed in six axial pairs:
Universalism versus particularism: universalism focuses more on rules than relationships. Whereas particularism focuses more on relationships than on rules.
Individualism versus communitarianism: individualism is about the rights of individual and frequent use of the form. The communitarians see the group approach and the frequent use of 'We' form and achieve in groups and assume responsibility.
Specificity versus diffusion: specificity is direct and useful for relating, while diffusion is indirect and apparently "without purpose" in terms of ways of relating.
Achievement versus Assignment: Use of achievements only when it is relevant to the subject -referring for example in a company: the employee- the competition brings intensifies the task and respect for who is superior in that task. It locates attribution as an extensive use of titles and recognition, especially when the state in the organization refers to the public and respect for superior in the hierarchy is seen as a measure of commitment to the organization.
Internal management versus external management: internal management is about thinking. Assume that thinking is the most powerful tool and consider ideas as intuitive approaches are the best. It assumes that the subject lives in a real world and that is where he seeks information and makes decisions, whatever his context.
Sequential time versus synchronous time: sequential time sees events as separate items in time, that is, one after the other. Find order in a serial matrix of actions that occur one after the other. Synchronous time sees events in parallel, synchronized together. Find the order in the coordination of multiple efforts.
Geert Hofstede developed a theory of cultural dimensions in the 1970s. The theory includes six cultural dimensions, the theory is based on a broad survey conducted among IBM employees in 72 countries. The survey was conducted between 1967 and 1973 in two rounds of surveys. The focus of the analysis was on country differences. The questions in the survey revolved around employee values. The initial analysis identified four different cultural dimensions: distance of power, avoidance of uncertainty, collectivism / individualism and masculinity / femininity. A decade later, a fifth dimension, long-term / short-term orientation, was added to the model. This dimension was based on a Chinese Values Survey conducted in 23 countries among students in 1985. In 2005, Hofstede added a sixth dimension, indulgence, through these dimensions the stable author can conduct research that revolves around sociocultural factors.
Guzmán & Caballero (2012), point out that, in order to achieve a relevant definition of social factor, one must specify the concrete reality in relation to which social factors acquire meaning, since these do not exist outside and independently of a specific social object with subjects that they permanently build and realize it. The concept of social factor acquires meaning only and exclusively through a concrete reality to which it refers and with which it is related in multiple ways, that is, not only causally, but also existentially, systemically, complexly, in a of element of a network, cognitive, etc., for the same authors the social factors are always factors of something, they are intentional, which justifies in part that each one in his study wants to give his own definition of social factor as he links it with that something. The importance of this characteristic of the definition of social factor is that it is sufficiently abstract to be valid for all realities regardless of what it may be. It is similar to the idea that there is no consciousness of nothingness, the consciousness is always of someone, it is intentional, in which case it is concrete. Any social factor is always concrete, in which case it is empirical, that is, observable and measurable, although it also has a theoretical load that explains and justifies it before science.
Conclusions
The analysis then of the sociocultural factors for Guzmán & Caballero (2012) means deploying, from its condition of starting point of the concrete reality of which it is part, its different edges and links from its relationship with each of the instances and dimensions of reality, and with all in an integrated manner. This allows to focus on each sociocultural factor in a multilateral and complex way, which places it as one more point in an intricate network within that concrete reality of which it is a part, with the mission of being cause and effect at the same time. different moments or being the starting or ending point in some process of construction of that reality, changing the linear causality in a circular causality.
As a personal reflection, socio-cultural factors could be considered as a fixed category, which would contribute to the construction of a complex base and as a qualifying adjective, a means and / or practices, in a dialectical movement of differentiation / homogenization. Therefore, it would be taken as a factor of differentiation between the cultural and non-cultural practices of the other (while these categories actually cover practices subject to variation). Therefore, the polysemy, the diversity of uses of the notion, its more or less encompassing nature according to the contexts, as well as the plurality and variability of the factors that cover it make it difficult to use, even when the sociocultural term does not appear explicitly, so it is suggested that for each research a small semantic network be made by ejmeplo to identify what the subjects of study imagine about, know or interpret about the multi-term term.
