Culture is only one factor that influences how people think and act. People's personalities and their own experiences are also influential. Think about an aspect of a cultural group that you belong to but which you don't follow (for example, you may be a New Zealander who is not in the least bit interested in any kind of sports).

Any person is the member of several cultures at the same time (e.g., an ethnic group and a gender group and an age group). Sub-groups may have different beliefs and customs (e.g., Pakeha men traditionally have had a different role as parents than Pakeha women). These beliefs and customs may even be contradictory (e.g., for a student in a NZ university whose ethnic culture expects primary loyalty to meeting family needs while the educational culture expects adherence to due dates).

A person may be bi- or even multi-cultural, that is, recognised as fully competent in two or more cultures within the same category (e.g., was brought up as a Catholic and has joined a Buddhist community) - it is not always obvious which culture is influencing their conduct in a particular instance.