People's attitudes are determined more by their immediate situation or surroundings than by society as a whole.Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position y

Are people's attitudes created more by their instant situation or surroundings than by society as a whole? Although there is no simple answer on this question, I profoundly believe that role of society in determination our attitudes is more fundamental and important. Thus I disagree with the issue.

To begin with, our attitude to reality is mainly created by society due to the fact that it is the source of our system of values via which we look at the world and estimate what is wrong and what is good. In fact, we can prove this crucial role of society in case we take a look at different societies of today and past. For example, for a medieval person believed that selling and having slaves, in particular, who belong to distinct confession and/or race is plausible and even desirable because western medieval society adhered to this attitude. By contrast, for our contemporary owing a slave is unthinkable idea which ought to be punished. This distinction between attitudes is created by differences in societies. The impact of society on us is enormous due to the fact that our culture norms and traditions forge our attitude to almost all aspects of our lives. From this prospect one question arises: may we aver that our attitudes are completely determined by society?

The answer is "no". Although society gives us the basis or foundation for our perception of reality, we can change and adapt it to new circumstances. For example, a person who changes citizenship and moves to a new country with distinct traditions, norms and attitudes may absorb them. A person who lived in Nigeria where homosexuality is forbidden and considered as a crime probably share this viewpoint to the issue; however, if the person moves to a western country such as the USA where the same gender marriage is acceptable, the man may have to change his attitude to the issue. Consequently, surroundings definitely have impact on persons’ attitude. However, in this case, the person has affected by a new society and thus the main role has still belonged to it.

However, sometimes our attitude is determined by sudden changes. For example, a situation of stress may significantly affect person's attitude to the world, a spouse who lost his or her beloved may change his/her attitude to the world and people. This reaction will be determined by sudden change in surroundings and perhaps society may not significantly impact on it.

In conclusion, a human's attitude to the world in all its variety and diversity is a product of immediate situation and society. At the same time, those two factors are not equal to each other and the main role belongs to society which creates our system of values and thus our attitudes to the reality. Of course, those attitudes may be adapted to changes in surroundings but nevertheless the fundamental role of society will be preserved.