People rarely acknowledge that a significant portion of their identity is a result of social conditioning (or indoctrination as you bluntly put it in another comment).
The act of seeking of approval, in particular, is the persistently amorphous result of a society shaping/ strengthening/ controlling the underlying instinctual passions (of fear and desire and nurture) over decades. Most people even in individualistic societies will fight to death their right to defend their internalizing of this brainwashing.
You may notice that a lot of spiritual beliefs too fall under the similar umbrella. If not, I invite you to this rabbit hole: http://www.actualfreedom.com.au
The act of seeking of approval, in particular, is the persistently amorphous result of a society shaping/ strengthening/ controlling the underlying instinctual passions (of fear and desire and nurture) over decades. Most people even in individualistic societies will fight to death their right to defend their internalizing of this brainwashing.
You may notice that a lot of spiritual beliefs too fall under the similar umbrella. If not, I invite you to this rabbit hole: http://www.actualfreedom.com.au