Culture refers to a set of beliefs, values and behaviors that shape an organization’s experience.
Entitlement is a mental trait in which individuals feel entitled to certain rewards even if they do not get them.
Entitled individuals tend to create conflict, act dishonestly and be selfish – all characteristics associated with psychological distress.
Cultural Solutions to Combat Entitlement of Men in Their Society
Men, like women, face considerable social pressure to be “dominant” and achieve success, whether that means financial independence, status attainment or physical strength and athleticism.
As a result, most women struggle with this idea and may feel degraded or humiliated when their expectations are not met; many even experience health problems as a result of their failure.
Not only are men under pressure from society to strive to become “dominant”, but they feel judged and evaluated for this ambition by peers, elders and most women themselves.
Over time, cultures have developed in ways to reduce men’s entitlement in society. They have altered how men should behave and interact with one another.
Hegemonic masculinity refers to the belief that men should be strong, capable and aggressive (Glenn 2002), which is pervasive across societies globally.
Belief exists that these characteristics can help distinguish men from other genders and give them legitimacy; indeed, research shows that men who exemplify such characteristics tend to enjoy greater privileges and status than those who do not display them.
Hegemonic masculinity systems exist to promote men, subordinate women, denigrate women-identified values and practices, enforce male dominance and control and reinforce forms of masculinity which are dehumanizing and damaging to men. Such an agenda has disastrous repercussions for both genders – health, education, economic status, leadership opportunities and political power are among its many negative outcomes.
1. Socialization
Socialization is the life-long process by which an individual absorbs the habits, attitudes and values of his society of origin. From an organizational point of view, socialization serves as an efficient means of transmitting its culture from generation to generation and maintaining itself.
Children during childhood are heavily socialized through family, friends and peers – these agents of socialization serve to impose values, rules and norms upon an individual, which in turn shape his behaviors and development of himself as an individual.
Family influence on socialization of their child is most potency during infancy and toddler years when a child is most dependent upon them and protected from external influences; but its influence gradually declines with media, peers and schooling throughout early childhood, adolescence and adulthood.
Key to successful family socialization lies in having access to an emotional bond between parent and child that motivates both adults to do whatever is necessary so their children have every chance at leading an enjoyable, fruitful, and rewarding life.
Without parental support, children become powerless and susceptible to self-destructive behaviors. That emotional bond drives parents to socialize their children even when overwhelmed with responsibilities involved.
Children in many societies are exposed to group settings with peers in order to learn social interactions (Bogardus). These carefully-monitored environments begin with simple rules like cooperation and sharing before progressing into more complex strategies for negotiation, dominance and leadership.
As a result, children develop the necessary skills and roles expected of them in society, as well as developing discipline to become accepted as members of their social order.
2. Education
Education can provide many tangible advantages for individuals and communities alike, from alleviating poverty to closing gender gaps and driving economic expansion. Furthermore, it helps build strong communities as well as teach individuals how to be good citizens.
Education gives people more self-respect and a stronger sense of community membership, leading them to take part in projects which benefit both themselves and society at large. Furthermore, educated people tend to find jobs more easily that allow them to support themselves and their family financially.
However, many educational systems are inherently biased against students with different needs based on race, ethnicity, gender, class or disability. This often prevents them from reaching their full potential.
Inequality can also be found within the education system as schools and districts receive different funding amounts based on wealth and power. Wealthier school districts may receive more state funds, enabling them to pay for better teachers and higher-quality curriculum.
This can result in more affluent students graduating high school and college with greater educational attainment than students attending poor schools, not to mention accessing exclusive private schools not subsidized by government subsidies.
Richer students tend to receive higher quality and exclusive schools for their education, making them more likely to receive a college education than less educated peers, even with lower SAT scores or GPA. This could be explained as richer parents being able to afford such institutions more likely to give access.
3. Religion
Religion can be an effective force that helps individuals cope with trauma or deprivation and is an effective vehicle for change. But religion can also be used to justify social inequalities or reinforce class-specific ideologies and behaviors.
Many members of our society believe they deserve certain privileges and rights due to a sense of superiority or entitlement, often at the expense of those without as many privileges or entitlement. Unfortunately, this can often result in violence being perpetrated against those without the same privileges and entitlement.
Durkheim believed that religion can help mitigate male entitlement in society by instilling common values and creating social stability. Religion brings people together physically while strengthening bonds amongst individuals through communication channels – all these factors combined contribute to making religion an effective means of combatting male entitlement in our societies.
Religion provides people with purpose and meaning in life, providing moral education along the way.
Yet some researchers argue that religion may exacerbate gender inequality by reinforcing negative stereotypes about women and encouraging subordination to male authority.
Weber disagrees. According to him, religious ideas can have a direct influence on socioeconomic development by shaping and informing how society functions and the values it holds. He notes how Protestant concepts of vocational calling and predestination have created an “inner worldly” ethic of wealth accumulation which has contributed significantly to shaping modern capitalist societies with highly rationalized yet unequal societies.
4. Society
Society can be defined as the sum total of all social relationships, interactions and norms between members within a society. Sociologists define society as an interactive system between people that creates an environment in which individuals can flourish.
Through history, humans have changed society as we moved from hunter-gatherers to farmers and industrialists. Sociologists have categorised societies on a spectrum ranging from preindustrial to postindustrial societies.
This spectrum encompasses various societies from simple to complex ones, each type with their own advantages and disadvantages.
Societies have developed over time to provide safety, food and care to their most vulnerable members while cultivating a sense of shared responsibility and helping individuals accomplish more than they could on their own.
Some of these benefits include social protection from disasters and knowledge accumulation over time. But there can also be negative aspects to society, including inequality.
One such issue is entitlement. People who believe they deserve special privileges or benefits such as free speech and fair trials often consider themselves entitled.
Entitlement can often lead to disappointment and dissatisfaction, leading to feelings of anger or sadness as the entitled individual cannot always get their way. Furthermore, entitlement can result in poor relationships as it means not getting what one wants from life.
Entitlement can be an emotionally difficult psychological problem to tackle. But its negative consequences must not go ignored; if someone in your life displays high levels of entitlement, try finding ways to manage their behavior; help them understand how their actions have impacted others or set up consequences that matter for them if promises are broken.
