Which mentality is more in Russia: European or Asian? Specifics of European and Eastern mentality.

I have read and heard many times about European mentality, but somehow I vaguely pictured it in my imagination. And now the opportunity has arisen to fill in the gaps. True, through my daughter, but still I received interesting information.

Here in the village there are people with German roots who went to Germany. Their grandmother died last week. The whole family came to bury him, including his German son-in-law. I don’t remember how many years they have been living there in this Germany, but they have acquired German habits. And this is very noticeable in comparison with our culture.

Early in the morning before the funeral, one of our relatives came to us to pick up a stretcher for the coffin and banners (these things are called “noshi” and “horynki” by the locals - funny surzhik, right?). To do this, it was necessary to open the temple - the banners are kept in the temple, and the stretchers are on the side porch. Our dad instructed Lena to go and give everything away. As a result, Lena fell into a pleasant precipitate. She even started sharing her impressions with me.

Firstly, the man rang the doorbell and waited in the yard until the owners came out, and did not proudly run into the street to his car (as the locals do - no hello, no please, as if we owe them something).

Secondly, he apologized for the concern and clarified whether the priest was free and whether he could give out the mentioned things.

Thirdly, he did not dare to open the closed church gates! When Lenka approached the temple, she noticed that the stretcher was already tied to the trunk and the gate was closed. She decided that the German opened them and then closed them. But everything turned out to be much more unexpected! When she gave him the banners, he humbly walked around, through the gate (the gate is much closer!) - we have two gates that are always open so that people can walk through the church territory and take a shortcut to the village council.

As Lena said, at that moment she finally woke up from surprise. How does our man do it? If he needs something, he literally opens doors with his foot! His hat is askew, his collar is wide open, he is smelling a mile away on fumes, he is unshaven, and determination is burning in his eyes. He's walking right through like a tank - uh... make way, I really need it! In short, ours would have opened the gates, loaded everything in and driven away without closing the gates or saying thank you. This was not the case here.

So much for the difference in culture.

Oh yes. They also stood at the funeral service (the night before they served at their deceased grandmother’s house), without moving! Our locals are always noisy, fussing, pushing (whether it’s a funeral or a wedding, it’s all the same). It is always unpleasant to be in such an atmosphere. It’s like standing at a market, and not at a church funeral. This time we were visited by an exception to the rule - everything was very touching and civilized. They cried quietly to themselves, without disturbing the singers, they prayed, even the German son-in-law (yes, son-in-law, Karl!) fainted from grief. The granddaughters sincerely mourned for their grandmother. And the woman, by the way, was about 90 years old... Many of us don’t grieve for such old people at all, which always makes an unpleasant impression from the outside.

They organized a Lenten dinner for Father. This was the first week of Lent, the strictest. All the meat has been prepared. No fish for you. Well done simply, there are no words.

So I’m analyzing everything now and, on the one hand, I’m happy for this German approach to life. After all, people come from the village. And in just a few years they managed to absorb neatness, politeness, attentiveness, respect for others and other European good manners. On the other hand, I understand why Europe caved in under Arab refugees. The Germans have everything according to the rules! Template thinking. It would never occur to anyone to break anything or change stereotypes by adjusting the situation to their advantage. But the Slavs are rabid in character and generally unpredictable. You'll just conquer us like that! Well, I’m really proud of us, honestly. Although I can’t stand it when people open gates with their feet or don’t say thank you...

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About the difference in the approach to completing a task between Europeans and Russians:

In the seventies, it was customary to organize competitions between friendly armies. I served in the artillery at that time, and one day I had the opportunity to attend a championship that was held between our unit and a fraternal German unit, which was armed with the same guns and tractors.

In addition to general running and shooting, the program included the following exercise: the tractor, having left the starting point and having driven 50 meters, must turn around so that the gun faces the enemy, the crew jumps off the tractor, uncouples the gun, unsheaths it, spreads the support frames, aims at the target, loads and fires a shot that must hit the target. The standard for everything is 45 seconds. There was only one limit for completing this exercise, so we did it one by one; who was faster was decided by a stopwatch. By lot, first the Germans, then ours. Both divisions are present, cheering for their own.

The stopwatch clicked. The Germans have gone. They act clearly, you'll fall in love with them. The tractor expertly jumps into position. The officer stands aside with binoculars, not interfering in anything. The sergeant gives commands, the soldiers act like machine guns, the frames are separated, the covers are removed, the shell is in the barrel. Shot. The target is hit. 41 seconds. The Germans are jubilant. The standard was exceeded by 4 seconds! The result is excellent.

Now ours. The tractor flies into position, the gun almost tips over when turning, stands on one wheel, and hesitates for a moment whether to fall on its side or back to its working position. It blew by - it fell as it should. The crew runs towards her in a crowd. The sergeant gives out kicks, the officer grabbed the frame, dropped the binoculars, which were crushed in the confusion, the mat-rewind, loading almost stumbled, in the fall, by some miracle, sends a shell into the breech, shot! The target is hit. 17 seconds.

Please note - the Germans completed the task more carefully. More beautiful. More reliable. Without unnecessary fuss and without crushing the binoculars. But the Russians didn’t give a damn about all these minor details and fired two and a half times faster.

This is precisely our strong point. Russians, if necessary, can gather their strength, clench their teeth into a fist and perform a feat with animal-like effort. Moreover, a feat is not in the sense of “dying heroically”, a la Japanese suicides, but a feat in the sense of “accomplishing the almost impossible.” Achieve results. Win a war or launch a rocket into space.

If you need to do something carefully, call a German. If you need to do something beautifully, invite an Italian. If you need to brag about what you've done, turn to an American. If a German, Italian and American cannot achieve results in any way, call a Russian. He will solve the problem.

“Our mentality is not so different from the Western one, and it’s easy for us to understand Europeans,” we think, and when communicating we are often amazed at their manners. And how amazed they are by ours!.. Travel lovers and those who do business with foreigners and often go on business trips should get acquainted in advance with the communication style of such seemingly close Europeans, so as not to inadvertently offend anyone. Or not to be offended yourself.

Finns

Our northern brothers, the Finns, are very reserved in their communication and do not like to waste time on empty talk. It is almost impossible to get a Finn to talk at the first meeting, and even sincere attempts to communicate and get to know each other can end in complete failure. They are reluctant to communicate with strangers, and especially with foreigners. And if they speak foreign language, then they carefully control the correctness of their speech, so the pauses in the conversation are incredibly long.

Silence is golden. This is one of the communication features of the Finns. It may seem to you that the interlocutor is simply ignoring you.

Typical for Finns slow pace speech and clarity of articulation, low voice, spare facial expressions, almost complete absence of gestures.

Finns are laconic; but they never interrupt their interlocutor, listen to him to the end, do not ask questions, do not argue in public, and express their disagreement delicately.

In general, all residents of Scandinavia, Great Britain, Belgium, Holland, Northern Germany and Northern France are cold, reserved, stubborn, stingy with words, alien to any familiarity, and independent by temperament.

Their characteristic features: self-confidence, love of truth, common sense, loyalty to authority, love of order.

English

Exchanging handshakes is accepted only at the first meeting; in the future, the British are content with a simple verbal greeting.

Don’t forget to smile to the British - they note the lack of smiles on the faces of Russian people as our strangest feature and interpret it negatively.

There are few things that can make an Englishman angry. Restraint, control over your feelings - these are life principles of this people.

Don't expect a violent reaction from the British. The famous English stiffness, the desire to hide emotions and save face is a consequence strict education. In those cases when a representative of the temperamental Latin race or the spiritual Slavic race will choke with delight or sob with tears of tenderness, the Englishman will say: “lovely” - “cute”, and this will be equivalent in the strength of the expression of feelings.

The noisy and expressive behavior of others causes hostility and misunderstanding among the British. Excessive expression of emotions and sentimentality are alien to them.

By the way, if a British person listens to you patiently, this does not mean that he agrees with you.

Germans

Germans want their pursuit of truth and justice to be respected, and are surprised when it is perceived as tactless at best. “After all,” the German reflects, “if I see that you are mistaken, isn’t it my duty to correct you? Why should I pretend that I like your terrible shirt, instead of expressing everything that I think about it?” ?" But foreigners seem unable to appreciate this.

The Germans are very economical and prudent, so it is not customary to talk about finances in any context; it is a personal matter for everyone. The average German is always organized, punctual, dreams of order, and follows the laws.

French

The French are very sociable and difficult to embarrass. They like to put themselves on display and public places feel much better than at home. They love banquets, buffets, receptions and other public events.

However, a significant drawback is that the French are absolutely convinced of their own superiority - social, moral and individual - over all other peoples of the world. We categorically do not recommend entering into discussions on this topic; the dispute can end in a violent conflict and mutual insults.

The French's desire for innovation is combined with a love of etiquette. He is very “correct”, trying to comply with all norms and regulations. They sacredly honor the Law, the Law, the Constitution and love to introduce new unwritten rules into all spheres of life - literature, art and the same etiquette.

Other Europeans

Residents Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Albania, Greece, Austria tend to openly express their moods. They are proud, courageous, honest, warlike, and remain committed to the national way of life, customs and folk art.

Spaniards, Portuguese, Italians temperamentally very bright, expressive, energetic, changeable in mood, loving life, prone to change, enthusiastic, resourceful and quick to grasp ideas.

As shown sociological research conducted by the company 72 Point commissioned by the satellite TV channel Gold_ to identify the “angriest nation in Europe”, the leaders here were the residents of the United Kingdom. And the inhabitants of another kingdom - Denmark - are recognized as the most calm and peaceful.

As it turned out, Danes get angry on average three to four times a month. So, having met a Dane, you have every chance of finding peace and quiet in your home.

Compare with other European nations

• Thus, temperamental Italians get angry four times a day.
• The French showed almost the same results - three times a day, at least, they are unhappy.
• The Germans Bad mood happens a little less often - up to twice a day.

What irritates them most?

• Italians are bad drivers on the road.

• The French – poor quality of food and poor service in hotels and restaurants.

• Scandinavians cannot stand criticism or jokes about their mentalities and countries.

• And the leaders of the survey, the British, are able to unbalance all the above-mentioned factors together.

Galina Bitner-Schroeder

European BA for VIPs!

European BA for VIP

We know how to organize your Happy Occasion!

If you ask any family psychologist or read a real book about the secrets of building relationships between a man and a woman, and even with an analysis of the reasons why these relationships do not always end in marriage, you will always come across the same thought, the same observation, which will immediately and forever explain WHY men and women are looking for their soul mate and they still can’t find it.

This is especially true beautiful ladies, already because this topic (searching for love and marrying the object of love) worries them much more than the representatives of the stronger sex (they have a slightly different approach to this topic).

What is this reason? Actually, I already answered. And if you carefully read the previous paragraph, then you yourself already understood everything: men and women have completely different, absolutely different views on this HOW RELATIONSHIPS SHOULD BE BUILDED AND HOW SHOULD THEY DEVELOP.

This difference is so great that sometimes the fact that men and women nevertheless manage to build these relationships cannot be called a miracle.

What is the most main mistake both women and men? And the fact is that each of them thinks (and thinks quite seriously) that her/his beloved perceives everything, treats everything AS HE/SHE does himself/herself.

For example, a woman meets a man, wants to build a relationship with him, get married, and thinks that the man also has a desire to get married in the future. And you don’t need to tell me that I’m wrong.

RIGHTS.

There is no single woman who would not look at any potential gentleman and would not calculate his chances of living together in a future marriage. If such thoughts do not arise, then not everything is normal with the lady herself. Or even if everything is normal in present moment, they were huge problems in past relationships with men.

Radio station Deutsche Welle noted that both Germans and Russians live in captivity of stereotypes.

A country of oil rigs and always drunk men - this is Russia in the eyes of the Germans, and not only them. Beer, sausages and punctuality - this is Germany in the eyes of many Russians. Both of these are not entirely true, to put it mildly. But stereotypes are tenacious.

What do Germans think about Russians?

A. Tsipris, a journalist, conducted street interviews and surveys of native Germans for several months:

1. How do you feel about foreigners?

2. Do you distinguish between the nationalities of people who came from Russia?

3. What are the main differences between the German mentality and the Russian one?

HELMA T (financial consultant, '42)

In my line of work I come across Russians. I treat all my clients the same.

On the subway, I sometimes observe the behavior of Russian young people, especially when they travel in groups. They throw candy wrappers and packages on the floor and talk too loudly. Of course, this is also typical of other foreigners and German youth, but sometimes Russians really stand out for their lack of culture. But this is a nation that has a rich culture!

I would note the following traits of Russians that reflect their mentality: constant doubts, distrust, lack of patience. They are not used to waiting for a long time for results, including in business.

RUPERT(student, 21 years old)

I have a normal attitude towards foreigners. Everyone who came from Russia is Russian to me. How could it be otherwise if they native language Russian!? In my country they write about Russia mostly negatively. And I was very surprised when I learned that the Russian media, on the contrary, do not write bad things about Germany.

I like Russian girls. They are very beautiful. They dress cool. But I don’t understand how they can walk around the city in such high heels? And they also abuse cosmetics. Our students dress practically, so that they feel comfortable. And, of course, no makeup during the day.

Russian guys are always ready to help, for example, give advice on exams. A German thinks only of himself and will never do such a thing. In my opinion, this is a different mentality.