06/04/2022; Week 7; CULTURE AND PSYCHOLOGY

 

Culture and Psychology

It is so mesmerizing to learn how culture affects the psychology of a individual and even a group of people. We have learned how culture influences the way we behave and act but now we are going to dig a little deeper. We are discussing how it affects the way we think and feel.

As I mentioned in my other post, I had the opportunity to meet a group of women from Afghanistan. I am not very familiar with this culture, so I was paying close attention to how the acted and to be mindful of my gestures and movements so that I was not disrespectful to them. 

I got the opportunity to drive a mother and daughter to and from a n ESL class and when I dropped them off, they invited me into their home. I wasn't sure what to do so I politely declined their invitation because I had just met them, and I was tired and wanted to go home but they insisted so I assumed that if I declined again it might be offensive of my part to decline their kind gesture. 

It was a bit strange for me because we had a bit of language barrier, but I am glad I accepted. It was a short visit, and I was able to meet some of their family members and to show pictures of my family. One thing that stood out from this encounter was that when they asked me how many children I had I said four and their response was "only four". I was shocked because I usually get the opposite response of "wow, you have four! so many!"

I went home and started reading a bit more about Afghanistan Culture and for women in this culture it is very common to have at least 5-6 children and women do not have much say about how many children to have. They consider birth control a sin and so they believe to have as many children as Allah would give them. I totally see new things in regards of psychology and culture and how they are linked. I think this is important to learn not to make each other feel bad or to argue who is better or right but to be more respectful and understanding of our differences.