Everyday people are affected by socialization and culture. One way or another, socialization and culture play an important role in people's lives. By definition, "socialization is the process whereby people learn the attitudes, values, and actions appropriate for members of a particular culture." Although we may not realize it, socialization helps us develop the way in which we as people develop perceptions, feelings, and beliefs. Socialization makes us who we are.
Socialization is accomplished by many different variables; two in particular are their environment and their parents. A person's environment plays a heavy role in socialization. Naturally, people adapt to their surroundings, this makes environment a key contributor to socialization. For example, a child was raised in an environment where there were no cars, skyscrapers, traffic lights, etc.; growing-up the child never really interacts with anyone other than their immediate family. If this child were put into a city environment for the first time, he or she wouldn't be able to handle or even comprehend what was going on. The child would not know how to interact with this environment. Crossing the street would be a difficult task. Because of the primary environment the child was exposed to, change of environment was difficult and strange. Parents are also a heavy component in socialization. The ways our parents raise us influence our view of socialization. The culture that our parents take part in, becomes the culture that we take part in. That culture, whether right or wrong, is the culture you would think is the only way to live. Because your parents raised you, everything they believe in or do, you would think is the right belief or the right way to do things.
A theory's view of socialization and culture is Mead's theory of the self. According to Mead, "the self begins as a privileged, central position in a person's world.