We Are Malorhi

The Malorhi culture is very much one of connectedness. We each consider ourselves as
an integral part of the culture as a whole. We are somebody truly connected to our neighbors and
friends, and that affects how we view ourselves and who we make friends with. I chose self as
my topic and we Malorhi consider the friendships we cultivate with each other to be incredibly
important. In the Big 5 personality model, two of the categories are particularly important to the
formation of friendships: extraversion and agreeableness (Zalk & Denissen, 2015). It was
especially important that if there is a perceived similarity for those two, you could tell who
would become friends. Malorhinites share and trade next to everything, so our friendships are
particularly worth monitoring to ensure that everybody remains on the same footing and enforces
a relatively equal distribution of commodities. This practice is incredibly important in the
western half where the vast majority of drinking water comes from trade with the east. From a
young age, our children are watched to see where there temperament lies, and they are
encouraged to make as many friends as possible. Seeing which two have similar levels of
extraversion and agreeableness allows parents to ensure that they have a better chance of making
friends. Zalk and Denissen also showed that there is a large correlation in demographic
background in friendship formation, however in Malorhi there is less chance of that, given our
small size and the fact that aside from the traders, everybody remains on equal footing regarding
economic means.
Our selves are also important in the cultural relationship to the traders. Traders often are
some of the most extraverted people in Malorhi and they have to be to cultivate the friendships
they do all over the nation. In both the East and the West, the friends they make are the ones that
come to the traders to inform them of the requirements of the area and their local group. They're

the ones that can come forward to say that more fish is required, because there's a new birth in
the family that more water is needed, or even if something unfortunate has happened and their
expected contributions won't be happening. This all affects ourselves because we have to
constantly be aware of the needs of everybody around us. We care when our friend is sick
because we will need to help make them better, and the resource they normally contribute will
not be there.
Malorhi is an incredibly collectivist culture. Because each individual and family is
expected to contribute and there is no currency in Malorhi, there isn't a self-view regarding
material possessions or wealth as there would be in another culture with uneven distribution.
This has ensured that we each have the perception that we are truly our friend's keeper. We are
who we are because of our friends and what we contribute to Malorhi as a whole. There is far
less emphasis placed on individual goals, as the collective needs are considered to be the
pinnacle of importance.
Our status as collectivist barters has affected our language significantly. Malorhini is a
transactional language that constantly places emphasis on how change in one area affects all
others. For example, there are less words for actions then there are for change and connection.
Self is a singular word, but there are many words for your friends and family. This ensures that
when discussing needs, a person is far more likely to discuss the needs of the others instead of
themselves. Each of us recognize that our needs are the group's needs. It isn't possible for just
one of us to be hungry or thirsty. If one of us has failed, we all have, and that affects how we
perceive and internalize the concept of ourselves.

Zalk, M. V., & Denissen, J. (2015). Idiosyncratic versus social consensus approaches to
personality: Self-view, perceived, and peer-view similarity. Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, 109(1), 121-141. doi: 10.1037/0000035