Final answer:
Culture encompasses norms, values, and beliefs that guide individual behavior, highlighting the relationship between ideal and real cultural practices. While culture informs expected behavior, it doesn't rigidly determine it, allowing for individual agency.
Step-by-step explanation:
Culture significantly influences how individuals behave in various situations. This influence includes a complex set of norms, values, and beliefs that are taught and learned within a society. Values suggest how people should behave, portraying an ideal culture. However, these values may differ from behaviors observed in real culture, where challenges such as traffic accidents, poverty, and racial tensions persist.
Every culture has its own set of social norms that dictate the appropriateness of behaviors in different scenarios. For instance, replying in detail to a casual greeting such as "Hi, how are you?" might breach these social norms. These norms are part of the culture and are understood through both explicit instruction and implicit learning. Therefore, thinking of culture as a collection of behavioral tendencies rather than as a controlling force allows us to appreciate the dynamic between societal structures and individual agency.