How would you describe the mentality/culture of your ethnicity and influences?

[Sheva]

I came up with the idea while thinking about how melancholy and serious for instance Russians act. Rarely smiles and is reserved. But I have to start with my own ethnicity. Now, while there are different individuals and personalities in every population, the culture does shape the people in varying degrees.

It is no secret that Norwegians are known to be reserved people before alcohol is consumed Both among Norwegians themselves and of course people who come from abroad or meet them abroad on holiday or business.

Norway has always had a small population that has lived scattered apart, well helped by mountains and valleys. Unlike other countries where people have lived more closely and thus developed more outgoing social antennae. Whereas the Norwegians didn't have to develop that many social norms besides living secluded, yet still being very curious about what neighbors are up to.

There has never been a real nobility in much of Our history, and whatever nobility who lived here were of foreign origin. Most people lived rather off few resources, limited social contact besides trade and there You go. This in turn has laid the groundwork for a culture of envy and hostility towards people who do not follow the norm. Whether it is about the way You dress, behavior or prosperity. There is a reason why a Danish author named Aksel Sandemose wrote a book called " A Fugitive Crosses His Tracks" after his stay here. Where he describes how the main character is kept down by the local community in his village an increasingly gets broken by what is called "Bygdedyret"/The village beast, the suffocating mentality of the people.

And lists the mentality in a rather infamous name called "Janteloven" / Law of Jante.

The ten rules state:

1.You're not going to think you are anything special.
2. You're not to think you are as good as we are.
3. You're not to think you are smarter than we are.
4. You're not to imagine yourself better than we are.
5. You're not to think you know more than we do.
6. You're not to think you are more important than we are.
7. You're not to think you are good at anything.
8. You're not to laugh at us.
9. You're not to think anyone cares about you.
10. You're not to think you can teach us anything.

All these points are well recognizable and reflect the mentality among many Norwegians. This in turn has led to many people having very low self-esteem and inferiority complexes in addition to being socially reserved. It is rare to meet Norwegians who dare to say outright that they are good at something. This has been the subject of debate in recent years, and in one municipality they went so far as to arrange a public funeral for the law of jante. With the words carved into a stone that was buried. A symbolic act that sparked debate but did not do great changes. Even the time of prosperity due to oil has not been able to change this. This backfires because it has a limited amount of innovation spirit and enterprise among the people. As not only did many lack the belief in themselves, there has always been many ready to chip in to keep it that way. Studies done decades ago proved that Norwegians were among, if not the most prone to going with the herd even if they knew the answer was wrong.

Now on to hospitality:

Though the mead was flowing and it was different days during the viking era when we had the guts to pillage and plunder, after Christianity was adopted Norway entered an era of obscurity and lack of development. And became a province that changed ownership between Sweden and Denmark for almost 400 years. There were few resources, to the extent that when children with defects were born, they were put out in the woods for animals to devour or thrown into the river. It was this combined with an already anti-social mentality that means that Norwegians can be far less hospitable and generous with guests than in other cultures.

It is not unheard of, and I have experienced it myself, that when people eat, children are sent home instead of being offered to take part in dinner. At home we did it differently, my mother always asked my friends to join, and said if we do not get full we will only eat a few slices of bread later. But by and large, it is not common to host a dinner party unless there are special occasions. With a widespread belief that each individual manages with his or her own. Personally, I feel uncomfortable eating without offering people around me, but for many others here it is not a problem. While in other countries they like to go overboard and offer everything they have to guests, even if they do not have much. When invited, it is often expected that everyone contributes, even if the host, especially these days, can afford it.

While there are some positive influences, I can certainly see how it hampers us in ways I've described above.

It is interesting how history influences culture even far into other eras with better conditions than before. How would you describe the mentality and culture of your ethnicity, your perception of why it has become like this and often your own thoughts about what is good / bad about it.

[TheMaestro]

Good thread, I was actually thinking about doing this kind of thread myself but my ADHD stopped me right there.
I could even compare people from Slovakia and Albania and list their mentality and culture. Don't forget even traditions are big part of this social concept.
I might get later to this thread and list some things.

[Westbrook]

Paradoxically full of both pride and shame.

[PaleoEuropean]

[Blondie]

My father always said: be on time or 5 minutes earlier.

[Kamal900]

Well, for Palestinians, we're headstrong like Jews for example. Our culture does have influences from the local Canaanite cultures of today's Israel/Palestine from the Israelites and Phoenicians specifically. The ancient Idumeans were a confederacy between the ancient Edomites and Arabs, and they were converted to Judaism by the Hasmonian Jews of antiquity which Herod the Great's father was an Idumean, and Arabs got heavily influenced by them and the Aramaean people of the North that the Aramaic language had the greatest influence to the Arabic language.
https://www.academia.edu/43204497/Al...Induced_Change

[pulstar]

Here we have too many regional differences, sometimes even two neighbouring villages are very different

[The Blade]

Interesting thread, OP, and thanks for sharing observations about your people!
Here is what I have to say in turn:
- Despite individual variations, one could say Bulgarians are mostly extroverted people. Yet we can be pretty distant if we decide we don't like you. We are hospitable but don't expect us to remove all barriers and consider you our ''buddy'' instantly. If you are a tourist here you'll get very appropriate attitude (we have always been good at international relationships, trade, etc., even during medieval times). If you wanna live here you should know some things:
- Learn our language. We are sensitive on this matter and we'll pressure you to do so if you want to adapt. Speaking it with an accent is ok but living here for few years already and not knowing shit is not ok and might get you in some awkward situations.
- If you are centrist or conservative by political beliefs you'll do better in adapting than if you are a liberal. While it's true many couples live without marriage and we aren't really racist we care about family values. If you are too tolerant on subjects such as gay marriages, adoptions by gay couples, etc., you'll get a lot of people to mock at you (I'm against such stuff, too, and so are most of my acquaintances).
- If you can drink various stuff and handle a decent conversation you'll get some respect for it. I've noticed English people are quite good at this, while Germans do worse with alcohol.
- If you are a man prepare for a lot of women to reject you simply for being a foreigner. Local men won't make you problems if you are trying to hook up with a woman (unless some of them is her boyfriend or you are simply being very annoying) but still many women will turn you down. There is a minority who'll only care about how rich you are but most aren't like that. If you are a woman you won't face these problems.
- We value people who stand for themselves. If you can defend your positions on various matters and argument yourself that's good.
- Bulgarians generally dislike hypocrisy. Speaking behind one's back happens but it's not that common. Surprisingly men are more prone to it based on my observations.
- We are religion-tolerant. The majority of us are Eastern Orthodox but there are also Catholic, Protestant and Muslim Bulgarians. Some people are atheist or agnostic. Generally everyone decides for himself/herself whether to believe or not (in what, too). Some people even believe in rebirth.
- It might be of benefit for you to know we don't make a lot of gestures (especially wide ones) with our hands. We don't normally speak in loud voice either. Medium voice tone, a firm handshake and looking the interlocutor in the eyes most of the time are considered the norm. Some women will give you a softer and faster handshake but most will follow the typical format.
- If you are a foreigner on a vacation but don't speak English German will be of use. Many of us study both languages (case in the state for generations now). A lot of elderly people speak Russian, while many younger ones study Spanish.
I think I gave a kinda appropriate answer but if you have any further questions ask me.

[Roy]

Draug ... would you say that Norwegians are mentally very different than Danes?

When it comes to Poles, idk how to describe our mentality - I am pretty poor about deciphering people in general.

[Trouble]

id say prone to religious extremism