Psychological anthropology is the study of individuals and their personalities and identities, within particular cultural contexts. In this paper I will identify two different cultures in the world which are the American and Japanese. Then, I will examine their traditions through various life cycles. Based on the behaviors, customs, and beliefs of each of the two cultures, I will discuss how personalities and identities are formed and shaped within the two different cultures. Finally, I will be giving two specific examples for each of the selected cultures.
In Japan New Year is considered a family celebration. Most people go return to their home towns or parents' homes. The majority of shops and restaurants close for 3 days, people start to prepare the traditional "o-set chi ryouri" during this time. Also there is what they call Adults Day which is a celebration for boys and girls who turn 20 in that year. What this means is that whoever turns 20 have the right to buy cigarettes and alcohol legally. In this occasion, ceremonies are held at temples and shrines and the girls wear a special way of dressing called kimono. Valentine’s Day is not the same concept as in Western customs; in Japan only women give gifts on Valentine's Day. The norm is to give chocolate not only to their boyfriend or husband, but to any men among friends or fellow workers. The way it goes is that men have to give back double what they have received from the women one month later. Another celebration in Japan is Hina Matsuri which is held on March 3 of every year. It is a festival intended only for young girls. They bring these dolls and display them in the houses of unmarried girls. It is believed that these dolls bring good fortune to the unmarried girls....
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...e restaurants are all over the country. So tourists will never feel alienated because they will always find something that ties them back to their own countries. In addition to the different cuisines, they have also developed their own regional foods, such as California cuisine and Southwestern, Creole, and Southern cooking. We can proudly say that “Still evolving and drawing upon its ever more diverse population, American culture has come to symbolize what is most up-to-date and modern. American culture has also become increasingly international and is imported by countries around the world. Today American culture often sets the pace in modern style.” (http://www.americanfamilytraditions.com)
Works Cited
http://www.japan-guide.com
http://www.americanfamilytraditions.com
Miller, B. D. (2007). Cultural anthropology (Custom 4th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon
-Nara’s Buddhist temples were another result of cultural diffusion, Buddhist began in India in 500s B.C.E. about 1,000 years later, it came to Japan from China by way of Korea.
American food culture is a contest with the purpose of determining who can have the best meal. This contest is apparent when we share our meals through social media, and treat culinary art as a profession to create beautiful plates. As a culture, we are very accepting of forgone foods, and prefer meals we don 't normally see in our household over something we are accustomed to eating. From personal experience, when I would go out and eat with friends, we would always go
This book, Japanamerica focuses on how the Japanese popular culture influencing the American culture. The author, Roland Kelts take a neutral prospective in order to create this book, which is done by interviewing many significant individual who took part in establishing the popular culture in both Japan and America. Kelts investigates why the phenomenon of Japanophilia, or the “outsider’s infatuation with Japan’s cultural character” (pg.5), is occurring especially in the United States. Even though Japanophilia phenomenon arose before the twentieth century, it is increasing in number because of the anime, manga, videogames, and other medium of popular culture.
Most American citizens remember December 7, 1941 and the significance that the incidents of that day had. The attack on Pearl Harbor was a shock to the United States of America and it engaged our country in the Second World War of that century (Pearl, 2009). Unfortunately, due to that incident, many Americans harbor many negative feelings and attitudes towards the country of Japan. While this is an understandable sentiment, it is unnecessary, because Japan is an influence on not on the United States but the entire world. Throughout this paper, we will look at the country of Japan as many have never viewed them before. Their actions of the past are just that, the past. Japan is a thriving and successful country within our environment and it is in our best interest to understand that country better. Japan, as a culture, is the
Personality is patterns of thinking, behavior and emotional responses that make up individuality over time. Psychologist attempt to understand how personality develops and its impact on how we behave. Several theories attempt to explain personality, using different approaches. The social-cognitive and humanistic approaches are two of many theories that attempt to explain personality. This essay will identify the main concepts of social-cognitive and humanistic approach, identify perspective differences and discuss approach limitations.
Differences in culture make country has its own traditional customs. Wedding, an extremely important event on one's life, has specific ritual observances. However, thanks to the cultural exchange, Vietnam wedding customs and those of a foreign country – America, have both similarities and differences.
A Comparison of the Main Approaches to Personality Psychology Psychology of personality is a difficult concept to define and quantify, therefore most personality theories, however different they may be in other respects, share the basic assumption, that personality is a particular pattern of behaviour and thinking, that prevails across time and situations and differentiates one person from another. Most theories attempting to explain personality represent part of the classic psychological Nature verse Nurture debate. In other words, is personality “inherited”, or developed through our interactions with the environment. In addition, we shall compare and contrast two of the main approaches to personality psychology by concentrating on Psychoanalytical Theory (Freud) and Social Learning Theory (Bandura). By looking at the Psychodynamic approach, developed by Freud, we can argue that it emphasizes the interplay of unconscious psychological processes in determining human thought, feelings, and behaviours.
American and Japanese ways of speaking are so different that they often cause culture shock to both Americans and Japanese who visit each other's country. Most Japanese who come to the United States are at first shocked and have a problem with the American direct way of speaking.
The U.S. and China are two really successful industrial countries in the world.They are both very similar in nature, but there are also contained a lot of differences between the American and Chinese culture and values. People are wondering, how different these cultures are? Aspects such as the role of men and women? or the method that raising a child?
The United States of America, a country where anyone can become anything he or she wants to be. It is even given the phrase “Land of opportunity.” This is one of the reasons people from different parts of the world choose to immigrate to the United States. Immigrants do not immigrate alone, but bring their cultures with them. One of the representatives of culture is food, and with the vast amount of immigrants, the vast amount of ethnic restaurants are introduced. Beneficial things happened with the rise of ethnic restaurants, they serve as a doorway to introduce different cultures and they improve the country’s economy. Some people disagree and believe that ethnic restaurants are a problem. That they lead to cultural separation because it
The Japanese mind is very pragmatic. They emphasize on immediate experience as opposed to the westernized analytical thinking. We see this through the character of Ryuji when he proposed to Fusako as he told her very bluntly without giving extra thought. We also see this through Noboru as he reacts to the actions of Ryuji very impulsively through his charges. We also establish that the Japanese are very introverted which is depicted through the characters of Ryuji, Noboru and Fusako as they keep very isolated and to themselves.
Sonzai is constructed from 2 words; son and zai. Son means subjective self-subsistence or sustain over time. Zai means that the subject stays in the same places in which the word “places” refers to social places which consist of human relations, such as home, hotel, inn, etc. By putting these two words together, we get sonzai (human existence) which literally means self-sustenance of human relations. Although sonzai looks similar to ningen, they are quite different. Ningen refers to capability of being an individual and at the same time also being a member of a society. To sum up, ningen is mostly explaining about a person as an individual. Sonzai emphasizes the dynamic structure of human being, such as human relations which concerns about the relationship between one individual to others. However, sonzai can be said as the interconnection of the acts of ningen as sonzai describes what a person (ningen) does to others. According to Watsuji Tetsuo, we can combine both ningen and sonzai becomes “ningen sonzai” which refers to the subject, who is at once individual and social, and to society, who are at once singular and composite (Kalmanson, 2010).
An examination of Japanese culture, and where it stands on Kluckholn and Strodbeck’s Value Orientation, Hall’s cultural dimensions, and what America needs to know in order to communicate properly with Japan.
In Japan one of the most celebrated festivals is New Years. The Japanese New Year, or Oshogatsu (‚¨³ŒŽ), is given more preparation than any other festival. There are many traditions and activities that happen at this time. Oshogatsu is a time to visit temples, forget the troubles of the past year, and wish for good fortune in the new. Many festivals around this time also reflect the values and ideals of New Years.
Social psychologists, such as Hazel, Kitayama, Triandis, and Brewer to name a few, have been working on the subject of culture and social self since the early ninety’s. Through individual studies, they have found relationships between the origin of ones’ culture and their sense of self. In order to analyze their work, some definitions will have to be discussed in order to make for a better understanding of the relationship between culture and the social self.