What countries in Europe are mostly the opposite of "emotional" and "impulsive" ?

ElHorsto said:
When I look at working class crowds in many northern protestant countries I think it must also have to do with class and education. Actually I find in these countries the working class people to be more impulsive, talkative and approaching than working class people in southern countries. But it is reverted for middle and upper classes who are cooler and distanced in northern countries.
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Are you thinking of lack of regulation here? I think that's true in all countries to some extent, don't you? By that I mean that the lower the social class, the more "crude" perhaps, or unregulated the speech and the behavior?

I was responding to and thinking of something different, that transcends class. Things more on the line of what Maleth was describing, as, for example, the striking difference in "touch" behavior between northern and southern Europe. It's one of the differences that's most apparent to me, particularly, perhaps, in the behavior of males toward one another. It's quite common, or at least used to be, for men to kiss their male friends in greeting, or to link arms, or to affectionately tousle someone's hair, or drape one's arm around his shoulders. I just don't see that in northern Europe, not even with parents necessarily.
 
Angela said:
I'm sorry, but I'm not following your logic here. How did following Martin Luther suddenly make Germans less emotional and less demonstrative?

I also don't think that Latin American countries are very good as proxies for southern European countries. Even the ones with large percentages of recent immigrants from southern European countries have substantial Native American input, and they also have substantial numbers of immigrants from northern Europe too.
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Good point. Although I doubt there are people in Europe with Native American indian DNA. Don't go by 23andme's idiotic and erroneous results. Only 108 samples of Native Americans were taken. Who knows if some of those "Natives" had blood that was European/Spanish/Mediterranean. There needs to be genomes from 1,000 healthy Native Americans; just like Ashkenazi Jews.
 
Dabeho said:
Countries of Southern Europe are generally labeled like this, as well as "loud" and "touchy". Colombia, Mexico and Brazil are even more so, for that matter.

Now, what countries are rather the opposite?
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East Germany has friendly people. So does Poland and Switzerland. I could only guess Hungary and Romania would too.
 
My experience visiting Europe was that European men are very effeminate, although my opinion may be harsh as I am from a somewhat rural area of Canada where men still act like cowboys. I think LeBrok would agree with me as he lives in the same general vicinity. In my experiences here with immigrants from Europe (much less so for Germans) they tend to learn very quickly that public displays of emotion are severely frowned upon and touching others is considered rude and will make you a social pariah. Even accidental touching warrants a "Sorry" here which is a hallmark of our culture. Canadians are different from Americans in that if you behave improperly in America Americans will make it a point to say something to you and point it out so people from other cultures quickly learn what is and isn't acceptable. Alternatively in Canada if someone behaves in an unacceptable manner Canadians just make it a point to avoid that person.
 
motzart said:
My experience visiting Europe was that European men are very effeminate, although my opinion may be harsh as I am from a somewhat rural area of Canada where men still act like cowboys. I think LeBrok would agree with me as he lives in the same general vicinity. In my experiences here with immigrants from Europe (much less so for Germans) they tend to learn very quickly that public displays of emotion are severely frowned upon and touching others is considered rude and will make you a social pariah. Even accidental touching warrants a "Sorry" here which is a hallmark of our culture. Canadians are different from Americans in that if you behave improperly in America Americans will make it a point to say something to you and point it out so people from other cultures quickly learn what is and isn't acceptable. Alternatively in Canada if someone behaves in an unacceptable manner Canadians just make it a point to avoid that person.
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:) you make it sound so dramatic and as if affection is nearly a crime. I was in Quebec and I hugged my friends and kissed on the cheek on greetings without feeling like an outcast :).

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-5756/10-Reasons-Why-We-Need-at-Least-8-Hugs-a-Day.html

Just some humor
 
Genetic and climate is certainly not responsible for differences in Latvia vs Lithuanian/Latgale. We are maybe closest populations in the world.

I think Catholic/Protestant had impact. Look at churches, ascetic Lutheran vs fancy decorated Catholic, sharing your sins with priest vs keeping those to yourself, etc, etc. It should have impacted moral norms of society when church was one's major guide (how maņu centuries after Martin Luther have passed?). Public showing off is good goes into subconsiossness of Catholic (if only for God's sake). I am a Catholic and I have Lutheran wife. Those churches/processions etc are like day and night.

Bavaria, Austria and Belgium are good counterpoints, must read on those. Probably there is something specifically Germanic culturally. Maybe some German could comment if there is difference between Bavarian vs rest of Germany mentality.
 
Angela said:
Surprisingly, given the amount of research that's been done on the benefits of human touch for everything from infant development, to marital bonding, to psychological health, to physical healing, there are few papers that I can remember that look at it from the perspective of geographic and therefore ethnic differences.
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That is absolutely true. And one thing for sure, that exceptions should not kill the rule and the benefits that come with it. Many capitalise on exceptions such as in most cases of exceptions, such as sexual harassment and so on. Most of the kissing on the cheek on greetings, hugging and other affection is of the beneficial type that all come out in studies.
 
Melancon said:
Good point. Although I doubt there are people in Europe with Native American indian DNA. Don't go by 23andme's idiotic and erroneous results. Only 108 samples of Native Americans were taken. Who knows if some of those "Natives" had blood that was European/Spanish/Mediterranean. There needs to be genomes from 1,000 healthy Native Americans; just like Ashkenazi Jews.
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I think we've crossed wires, somehow. My point was that any study of possible genetic influences on emotionality, expressiveness etc. should not be using Latin American countries as proxies for Southern Europeans because even in countries like Argentina and Uruguay, many people have some percentage of Native American genes. Every study I've seen indicates that is the case, and I've even seen it in my sharing partners at 23andme. The only Argentinians with whom I share who don't show it are those (like Pope Francis, no doubt), whose ancestors immigrated to Argentina in the early 20th century, and have only intermarried in that same group. It's a small portion of the population. Interestingly, a large majority of the rest carry Native American mtDna.
 
Dabeho said:
It's not to say people from Germany, Sweden or Finland are cruel or bad. Of course it's possible for them to be both friendly and well-mannered, having better self-control, not making as much noise and doing things in a more efficient way.
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You're jumping all over the place. Your thread topic raised the question as to whether certain countries or regions of Europe are more emotional or perhaps "expressive" than other regions or countries. The short answer, of course, is yes.

Are you going to stay with that, and make a stab at approaching the issue in a learned, scientific way, or are you trying to turn this thread into just another exercise in the "Nordicist countries are better, southern European countries are worse" anthrofora type discussions ?

If you are, either I'm going to ignore it, or I'm going to "take the gloves off", depending on how much time I have, and my mood. :)
 
motzart said:
My experience visiting Europe was that European men are very effeminate, although my opinion may be harsh as I am from a somewhat rural area of Canada where men still act like cowboys. I think LeBrok would agree with me as he lives in the same general vicinity. In my experiences here with immigrants from Europe (much less so for Germans) they tend to learn very quickly that public displays of emotion are severely frowned upon and touching others is considered rude and will make you a social pariah. Even accidental touching warrants a "Sorry" here which is a hallmark of our culture. Canadians are different from Americans in that if you behave improperly in America Americans will make it a point to say something to you and point it out so people from other cultures quickly learn what is and isn't acceptable. Alternatively in Canada if someone behaves in an unacceptable manner Canadians just make it a point to avoid that person.
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Motzart, I've enjoyed many of your posts on genetics, but I have to say that I don't find this comment very insightful in terms of the topic.

There is nothing "effeminate" about men being expressive and emotional with one another. In fact, if I wanted to be inflammatory, I could post studies to the effect that men who have a phobia about being touched affectionately by other men often harbor secret homosexual tendencies. However, I am taking my new duties seriously, and I don't want to be inflammatory. :) Plus, I don't think the science on that is actually all that sound to be honest, and such phobias are often also just a function of extreme youth.

I do think, however, that there is something to be said for the fact that men who are affectionate and expressive often are, indeed, very comfortable in their masculinity, and that men who are more insecure about it can sometimes overcompensate by trying to project what they think is a super "masculine" persona. I might also add that for many women, that combination in men of strength and masculinity with tenderness and emotional availability is devastatingly attractive, and indeed irresistible.

I'll give you an example with which you might be familiar, given the mania of Americans for Mafia movies. Think about the depiction of the men in a movie like "The Godfather", for example. I've said before, and I'll say again that I think Mario Puzo and Coppola romanticized them. Many of them are far more like Tataglia than they are like Vito Corleone. Be that as it may, the portrayal in terms of speech patterns, body language, expressiveness, family relationships, etc. is an extremely accurate representation of these Italian-Americans. Do you find anything remotely effeminate about these men? I sure don't.
 
Dabeho said:
Yes. I'm wiling to discover what countries in Europe are rather the opposite of those traits. My question is not about whether there are countries like that (I know there are), but what countries are.

I am of course also willing to get as deep into this as possible. If a comprehensive analysis could be made, nice.

I am going to be super honest with you. Many people get angry when touching the subject of "Nordicist countries are better, southern European countries are worse", but I find it terrible that people also either try to sugar-coat the facts or ignore them.
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I notice you changed the title of the topic. As I said previously ALL people are emotional and impulsive, they just have their own way of expressing and dealing with it. Maybe you forget that deep down we are all human. Some people CAN mask their emotions others just flow it out as it happens, you get different reactions from different people in the same regions depending on their background.


I have myself read from people from Southern Europe themselves (Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus and Croatia, for example), the ups of their countries don't go far from food, weather and sceneries. But when it comes to efficiency of services, social cohesion and some others, some would criticize or even simply say "It's not good to live in Italy". Not to mention the fact that Portugal and Greece are the poorest countries of the so called "Western Europe", even if they didn't have Communism to hinder their progress as most of Eastern Europe did (Croatia was Communist and experienced a civil war as well, partly excused).
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I have even heard the contrary many times, in itself it does not prove anything

Considering this, I find it at least worth a moment of reflection if countries which are (granted, emotionally expressiveness have its benefits) of a rather emotional character, have the setback of also having slack structures and foundations (shown in lower positions on indices of development, all having with the exception of Italy a Purchasing Power Parity lower than EU-28 and Europe, not counting Russia). And don't get me started on Latin America.
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I think you should start a new topic as this will delve much deeper then just emotions and being impulsive
 
Dabeho said:
A Francizationed version of Canada, probably. Of course, not a copy of France, but probably with different nuances from the rest of Canada.

There has even been a referendum on independence.
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Fine...but not independent yet, when it is we can discuss it as such
 
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