We have looked at the causes of Arya 's masculinity from different angles and different perspectives, but all previous perspectives focus on intrinsic factors such as high testosterone level, struggle between Id and Superego, and dispositional traits. However, the development of personality must be caused by the interaction between both the intrinsic and extrinsic variables. As the result, her masculinity might be also caused by her surrounding and culture. The current section examines these extrinsic factors.
Arya 's masculinity can also be explained by social learning theory which claims that gender roles are developed through reinforcement and modeling. According to the Law of Effect, the rewarded behaviors will increase its frequency. …show more content…
Another reason why masculinity is more rewarding is because that engaging in masculine activities is the only way for Arya to regain self-esteem. According to self-evaluation maintenance model, our self-identities and self-concepts can be threatened by how other people perform. The intensity of the threat depends on how close the person is to us, how personally relevant the activity is, and how others perform compare to us (Gilovich, 2013). For example, if others perform better than us in certain activity, and such an activity is very important to us, we will tend to have low self-esteem. To regain self-esteem, we can pursuit other activities. Following the logic, it is possible that Arya initially like to participate in feminine activities; however, her sister Sansa is more successful and better than Arya in these activities. In order to promote her self-esteem, Arya choose other activities that she can perform better than Sansa; as the result, she starts to engage in masculine activities. At last, Arya 's persistence and resistance of masculinity can be explained by her motivation to reduce the gap between her behaviors and thinking. According to cognitive dissonance theory, discrepancy between attitudes and behaviors …show more content…
Previous study has shown that masculinity can be transmitted through the population via cultural transmission (Heine, 2008). Culture of masculinity emphasizes on honor and aggression. In addition, people with culture of masculinity are especially aroused by unfair treatment. Arya’s culture of masculinity is revealed by her obsession of revenge after her family members are unfairly murdered. She even keeps a death list in her heart. Arya constantly repeat to herself the name of people she wishes dead. Such a masculine culture can be caused by the local geography. Geography that promotes herding foraging behaviors can stimulate culture of masculinity; to show aggression and toughness when being treated unfairly, since livelihood can be easily stolen. If herders don 't show aggression and toughness when being unfairly treated, more livelihoods can be stolen. In a way, aggression serves as a warning that communicates to others to stay off the property. Accordingly, southerner (previous herders) should be more aggressive and violent than northerner in the United State. Indeed, the hypothesis is confirmed by archival data, survey data, physiological measure, experimental study, and field experiment (Nisbett, 1996). These results have huge implications for personality development of Arya. Northern culture especially promotes Arya 's aggression. Living in the harsh
Arya 's masculinity can also be explained by social learning theory which claims that gender roles are developed through reinforcement and modeling. According to the Law of Effect, the rewarded behaviors will increase its frequency. …show more content…
Another reason why masculinity is more rewarding is because that engaging in masculine activities is the only way for Arya to regain self-esteem. According to self-evaluation maintenance model, our self-identities and self-concepts can be threatened by how other people perform. The intensity of the threat depends on how close the person is to us, how personally relevant the activity is, and how others perform compare to us (Gilovich, 2013). For example, if others perform better than us in certain activity, and such an activity is very important to us, we will tend to have low self-esteem. To regain self-esteem, we can pursuit other activities. Following the logic, it is possible that Arya initially like to participate in feminine activities; however, her sister Sansa is more successful and better than Arya in these activities. In order to promote her self-esteem, Arya choose other activities that she can perform better than Sansa; as the result, she starts to engage in masculine activities. At last, Arya 's persistence and resistance of masculinity can be explained by her motivation to reduce the gap between her behaviors and thinking. According to cognitive dissonance theory, discrepancy between attitudes and behaviors …show more content…
Previous study has shown that masculinity can be transmitted through the population via cultural transmission (Heine, 2008). Culture of masculinity emphasizes on honor and aggression. In addition, people with culture of masculinity are especially aroused by unfair treatment. Arya’s culture of masculinity is revealed by her obsession of revenge after her family members are unfairly murdered. She even keeps a death list in her heart. Arya constantly repeat to herself the name of people she wishes dead. Such a masculine culture can be caused by the local geography. Geography that promotes herding foraging behaviors can stimulate culture of masculinity; to show aggression and toughness when being treated unfairly, since livelihood can be easily stolen. If herders don 't show aggression and toughness when being unfairly treated, more livelihoods can be stolen. In a way, aggression serves as a warning that communicates to others to stay off the property. Accordingly, southerner (previous herders) should be more aggressive and violent than northerner in the United State. Indeed, the hypothesis is confirmed by archival data, survey data, physiological measure, experimental study, and field experiment (Nisbett, 1996). These results have huge implications for personality development of Arya. Northern culture especially promotes Arya 's aggression. Living in the harsh