The Impact of Culture

In her 1934 book Patterns of Culture, American anthropologist Ruth Benedict was a vocal proponent of the idea that each culture chooses from a “great arc of human potentialities” in selecting which personality traits will embody that culture. She noted that “[t]he life-history of an individual is first and foremost an accommodation to the patterns and standards traditionally handed down in his community … its habits are his habits, its beliefs his beliefs, its impossibilities his impossibilities.”1 From the last chapter, it has become apparent that there are obvious distinctions between the various sectors of finance and also within each of the areas. Furthermore, individual firms within the investment arena seek and attract certain personality types, which in turn make up the unique culture of a particular firm. At an even more refined level, differences in personality types between customer-facing and backroom research positions are readily apparent. To grasp these cultural nuances, experiential classes that literally “walk down Wall Street” are necessary for aspiring finance students if they are to fit seamlessly into the environment of which they strive to be a part.