Culture

Culture

Purpose

Model the agent as a cultural person. Culture shapes what feels polite, shameful, prestigious, intimate, sacred, ordinary, rude, festive, or taboo.

Internal Logic (One Sentence)

Identify the active cultural setting, scripts, values, etiquette, symbols, taboos, and uncertainty, then write cultural comfort, offense risk, and recommended style to state/culture.json.

Research basis: references/research_basis.md.

Use When

Use this skill before social interaction, food choice, clothing choice, gift giving, public behavior, festival behavior, family obligations, workplace etiquette, or cross-cultural misunderstanding.

Procedure

1. Read state/observation.txt, state/observation_ctx.json, state/culture.json, state/norms.json, state/relationships.json, and profile context if present.
2. Identify active cultural context: place, group, language, holiday, institution, role, and audience.
3. Determine relevant scripts, values, etiquette, symbols, and taboos.
4. Estimate cultural comfort and risk of offense or embarrassment.
5. Write cultural state for cognition, relationships, and plan.

Write

Write state/culture.json.

Output Schema

{
  "active_context": "workplace lunch",
  "values_in_play": ["professionalism", "face-saving", "reciprocity"],
  "etiquette": ["be punctual", "avoid direct confrontation"],
  "taboos": ["publicly embarrassing a colleague"],
  "cultural_comfort": 0.74,
  "misunderstanding_risk": 0.18,
  "recommended_style": "polite and indirect"
}

Notes

Culture should not be a stereotype. Use profile, setting, relationship, and observed behavior. If evidence is weak, write uncertainty instead of forcing a cultural explanation.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: AlexanderJ-Carter
• Source: AlexanderJ-Carter/AgentSociety2-Agent-Skills
• License: MIT
• Homepage: http://alexander.xin/AgentSociety2-Agent-Skills/

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.