Love – the most beautiful feeling that a person can experience. We feel it everywhere. However, despite all the romanticism of this feeling, society has a great influence on how a person evaluates his experiences and how he shows his feelings. The editors of Estet-portal decided to look into this issue and understand how representatives of different cultures perceive love.
Studies on love in different cultures
Scientists have conducted several interesting psychological studies that have shown the difference in the perception of love for residents of Western and Eastern countries of the world. So, a group of researchers led by psychologist Robert Levine conducted a survey of students from 11 countries of the world and asked them the same question: “Suppose that a man (or woman) has all the qualities that you would like to see in a person nearby. would you tie the knot with him (or her) if at the same time you are not in love with him (her)? "
It is interesting that the answer to this seemingly understandable question was ambiguous. Thus, the majority of students, from the Western countries of the world and countries where Western culture prevails, gave a negative answer. But young people from eastern countries give more preference to the presence of the necessary qualities in a partner, and romantic relationships are relegated to the background.
In addition, the researchers compared attitudes towards romantic love, a vivid example, albeit a sad one, is the story of Romeo and Juliet among students in the USA, Japan and Germany. This study showed that young people in Germany have the most passionate and passionate attitude towards love, while Japanese students adhere to more conservative views, which are extremely mediocre about romance. Among the Americans, opinions were divided, and they took an intermediate position.
What is love for different cultures
Romantic love – these are strong inner experiences of the individual. Often, it pushes a person to rash and impulsive decisions. A marriage that begins with such a passionate relationship often becomes a stumbling block between family members of lovers. Disregard for the opinions of others about their own feelings – this is the essence of romantic passionate love. In such romantic relationships, lovers are immersed in each other's world without seeing the others. This model is quite suitable for representatives of Western culture.
Oriental culture cannot afford such impulsive decisions. Accordingly, romance fades into the background. It is much more important for them how other members of the family or social group will evaluate their choice. Among the representatives of Eastern culture, the largest percentage of arranged marriages. Moreover, it is worth noting that a couple of the bride and groom can be built long before they enter the legal age of marriage.
So, a European in love asks himself: "What do I feel?", and a Chinese "What will others think?" When examining various aspects of love, scientists have found that young Asians often classify their relationships as friendly love, with little or no perception of romantic love, which, through passion, pushes people to unjustified risks. But even among the representatives of the East there are differences in the perception of love.
Chinese love
In China, there is such a thing as "gun quing". It denotes important and close relationships for a person. This concept has almost nothing to do with the Western idea of romantic love. After all, "gan quing" does not imply a sexual attraction to a person. This feeling arises when one person does something or helps another person with something. So, the manifestation of love in Chinese can be manifested as repairing furniture or helping with studies. Very often marriage relations in China are built on this feeling. And only after that they supplement it with sexual relations and other "attributes of Western love."
Korean love
However, expressing love in Korean is different from the understanding of this feeling by their neighbors. So, in Korea, the most valuable feeling is "jung" – a feeling that arises between people for a long time. Koreans believe that "jung" binds people together much stronger and more closely than passionate romantic love.
It is interesting that the same feeling can arise between people who dislike each other. After all, the passionate feeling of not accepting another person also establishes a connection between people.
Japanese love
The Japanese are extremely positive about the so-called «ame» — an emotional state in which a completely passive object of love takes pleasure in being cared for by a partner, this is somewhat similar to the relationship between mother and child. In English, as in any other language, there is no equivalent for the word "ame"; the closest word — addiction, an emotional state that in Western culture is considered abnormal in adult relationships.
Japanese culture highly values the concept of "ame". It means a strong emotional attachment of one person to another due to caring for him and getting pleasure from this care. In some ways, love in Japanese is more like the relationship between mother and child. In other languages, of course, there is no equivalent for the word "ame", but the closest in meaning may be – emotional dependence. Interestingly, in Western culture, such a relationship between two adults is considered strange.
Interestingly, this is how different cultures form the idea of "ideal" love in the eyes of the younger generation. In fact, it doesn’t matter what kind of love you experience, the main thing is – it is what it is in your life. The editors of Estet-portal wish you to love and be loved.
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