W1 – Cultural Psychology and Social Dynamics
Being an ‘appropriate’ or ‘culturally pathological/inferior’ person under Western (more powerful) standards, domination, and, pressure is seriously problematic in all agencies in the downward constitution. Especially because today most findings and generalizations in cultural psychology come from the US and middle class in the West, the tendency of people trying to understand the subject to see themselves more accurately and healthily, their fixed mindsets, may have increased.
Looking at the culture cycle and seeing people in subject and object positions about culture made me realize how dynamic and wide culture is.
The farmer-shepherd example in the Black Sea region in terms of holistic vs analytic thinking style impressed me because it is a study conducted in Turkey, and reflects the concepts of social interdependence & independence very well.
As a woman from Turkey, I was very impressed by the fact that people in interdependent cultures help each other without expecting anything in return because under these circumstances we need social solidarity and being there for each other. We need to be more assured of ingroup projection.
In the downward constitution of the culture cycle, I assume that although it is hard to change the historically derived ideologies (ideas) or policies (institutions), we have a responsibility in the agencies of interactions and individuals in our everyday attitudes and discourses.
The part of emotional norms and culture can be shaped by whether negative emotions are accepted or not, that how inaccurate it is for men to show emotions that may be seen as ‘weakness’ by society.
While reading about cultural clashes, I was reminded of my own family when it talked about working-class children attending college and their disadvantages. My parents had to graduate from university as quickly as possible and start earning money, with no other options, and no one even mentioned that they could continue with a master’s or become academics. In this sense, the role of institutions in guiding people through the cultural cycle seems truly critical.
As a baglama, a traditional instrument in Anatolia, player, and listener of folk music in various languages, Vico’s Romantic view which emphasizes cultural societies’ artistic forms as a way of communication and understanding fascinated me in terms of uniqueness, intimacy, and familiarity. There is so much to learn about these broad symbolic values. I would love to study the concept of ‘familiarity’ in understanding attitudes and behaviors.
I would’ve liked you to talk about farmer-shepherd example in the Black Sea, how it reflects these concepts. The point you made about being a woman and needing social solidarity seems accurate to me because disadvantaged individuals may require more support dealing with power dynamics. When you say we have a responsibility in everyday discourses, what kind of an accountability we are talking about? Is it shaping interdependent selves according to our own opinion or is it making life easier for individuals and in groups despite historically derived ideologies? I agree with you about acceptance of negative emotions. Your personal example about institutions shaping culture is very relevant. I am not familiar with Vico’s romantic view but art paving the way to examine communication and intimacy striked me as a crucial point. I would love to see a study about this as well. Overall, thank you for your detailed reflection, I really appreciated reading your thoughts.
Hi, this is the first blog post for the Culture and Psychology course. It’s nice to see this! I’d like to mention a few points:
* It seems like you haven’t updated the interface of your blog yet (for example, there are still default texts under different topics when we first visit the page).
For the text:
– I really liked the way you build the reaction. I do not have anything to add regarding your text.
Looking forward to read next ones!