Culture Impact on Individuals

Culture has a huge impact on people who live in certain society. How people behave in public varies with different cultures. As you know, China has more than five thousand years civilization. During this long period of time, Chinese people developed a philosophy of what we called middle-of-the-road policy. We tends not to show too much of our personal opinion in front of public. The reason is that in Chinese culture, conflicts and arguments should be avoided as many as possible. To conceal your own emotion is the best way to achieve this philosophy. In Chinese culture, people barely show too much of their emotions, especially negative emotions. For example, if an award ceremony happens in China, winners may not look as happy and excited as they truly feel; nominees who do not win the award may not seem sad even though they are very disappointed. In old times, Chinese people are not allowed to kiss, hold hands, or hug in public before marriage. Actually there were no concrete laws or rules that forbid people from being demonstrative, but it was tradition that made people feel embarrassed to do those things in public. Nevertheless, Chinese society has changed significantly over years due to globalization. Chinese people especially young generations are more demonstrative.