A Remarkable Life Event (essay) Last year I had the opportunity to reunite with some of my family members in rural Jamaica. My parents are from Kingston, Jamaica, but I have never had the opportunity to travel and connect with any of my family members in the country. At first I was very excited, but I didn't know what to expect or how to relate to them considering the cultural differences. I had started preparation a month before the visit, but the essential part of my research was frequent Google searches about the culture of the local people. When I finally visited, there was a fundamental difference between what I had learned from the websites and how people lived and related to each other. Kingston being the capital of Jamaica, I expected the area to be technologically advanced, with a few shopping malls, but somehow that wasn't the case, there were almost no shopping malls and what little that did come out contained only necessary items. I later realized that my perception was a mere generalization. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Among the many things I learned from that interaction, the most surprising part was my first-hand experience with a freshly prepared chicken. I had gone to my grandmother's house and she was so excited to see us. He ordered one of his caretakers to prepare a chicken for us, and I was so excited to see the preparation of a chicken before it was cooked. Watching the head cut off, the feathers removed, and then the paws was a little shocking to me, but after reading about the treatment these animals suffer in our industries in the United States, I was amazed at the respect these people accord the animals . My experience with my extended family in Jamaica can be understood from a socio-cultural and responsive formation perspective. The socio-cultural perspective recognizes the role of social context, social pressures, environmental stimuli and cultural influences on behavior change. Attitudes and values emphasize the perspective of social culture. According to Shiraev and Levy (52), attitudes are psychological representations that are based on an evaluation of various characteristics of the social world. These values are based on personal experiences and constitute the psychological link between cognitive images that serve as the basis of their evaluations. Our memories retained a particular image along with their evaluation. Values, on the other hand, are attitudes that reflect a standard, principle or quality considered by individuals to be the most desirable or appropriate. Values are more stable than attitudes and represent the most significant influence on how we interact and behave on various occasions. For example, during my visit to Jamaica, it was surprising to realize how religion plays a central role in shaping how people interact and view each other. Although my parents are somewhat religious, I am not that religious in our homes, and religion is the least consideration when we interact with others. A sort of sacred chant characterized every conversation in Jamaica. My grandmother, for example, was overjoyed that God had kept us safe immediately after we met; he spends a few seconds reciting some prayers of which I learned he was thanking God for being able to see us before leaving this world. I am amazed at the value he placed on faith in God and his protective ability. Explaining the difference in cultural values, Vognar (np) observes, 249-260.
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