PDF Version. Is love really our destiny in life? What do different cultural traditions tell us about predestined connection? Love is often viewed as a mysterious force—one that many societies attribute to fate. The English word ‘destiny’ derives from Latin, … Continue reading
Category Archives: Western cultures
How Culture Shapes Sexual Love and Its Lexicon
PDF Version. Is sexual desire a universal biological drive or merely a cultural construct? Although the evolutionary biology of human sexual desire is substantially similar, the linguistic and psychological frameworks people use to understand sexual attraction and desire vary significantly. … Continue reading
“Friends with Benefits”: Single Men and Women in Relationships
Throughout the last couple of centuries, traditional ideals of romantic love have suggested people find their soul mate, marry the loved one, have children, and live happily ever after. The cultural beliefs in love marriages have long shaped people’s dreams … Continue reading
Is It Okay to Be Single?
Since the middle of the 20th century, marriage and family have changed dramatically and surprisingly. The “golden age of marriage” and “sexual revolution” of the 1950s and 1960s promised that men and women should be happier in their love marriages. … Continue reading
How Marriage Evolved Into Singlehood
In people’s minds, love and marriage relationships have been deeply associated with wellbeing and happiness. For a long time, many women and some men thought that marriage would bring them happiness in life. Yet, something unexpected occurred by the end … Continue reading
The Golden Age of Love Marriage in Western Societies
Love marriage appears to be a valuable cultural value in many countries throughout Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as many other modernized societies around the world. However, it was not always true in history. In the … Continue reading
Cultural Values in Individualistic Cultures
Individualism and collectivism are the two opposite constructs and dimensions of culture. These dimensions have been among the most popular in cultural and cross-cultural studies of the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s (Hofstede, 1980/1984; Marsella et al., 1985; Triandis, 1995). … Continue reading
These Experiments Show Hidden Reasons Why Privileged Social Classes Can Be Against Equality
The social policies and practices of social equality have progressed significantly in many contemporary societies. People in some countries, such as Scandinavia and other North European countries, adopted equality cultural values more quickly and easily than in others. However, in … Continue reading
How Altruistic Are Western Attitudes in Love Relationships?
The Christian ideals of agape, which have been prevalent in Western cultures, placed a greater emphasis on the value of altruistic agape love as opposed to passionate Eros love. Passionate Versus Altruistic Love On the one hand, the experience of … Continue reading
Religions in Cultural Perspectives
How Are Religious Cultures Different from National Cultures? Religious cultures are similar to national cultures yet differ in several ways. Religion, like national and ethnic cultures, can be thought of as a type of culture and a cultural system (Cohen, … Continue reading