When I think of the term worldview, I picture a culture’s perspective on everything that we, as humans, interact or deal with. Whether it be religion, other people and our relationships with them, life and death, our purpose in life, etc., the worldview of a culture centers around their beliefs, values, and how they see themselves as a piece of the giant puzzle of life.
The worldview of my culture is based off two completely different aspects of our heritage. This is because of the religion and beliefs of our indigenous ancestors being mixed in with the influence of Roman Catholicism that Cortés brought with him when he invaded our country. Even though these two cultures themselves, the Spanish and the Aztecan, are very different, they have made our country into the rich culture it has today.
The worldview of my people is very relationship oriented. We are more of a collectivist society rather than individualist like our northern neighbors. We value having large amounts of children because of our Catholic background and we value our family members no matter how distantly related they are. According to everyculture.com, “The family and larger kin groups are the main locus of trust, solidarity, and support in Mexico.”
127 our experts are availableright now
Also, not only are family relationships very important to my culture but so are marriages. This is not only because our culture values relationships and others so highly, but that it is also a very large stigma in our country to get divorced. This is because it is seen as dissolution of a religious sacrament. Consequently, our society is very focused on the groups/relationships that we are a part of whether it be related to friends, business, or family.
Also, our worldview includes how hierarchal our society is. The Peninsulares are the officers in our society and they are valued highly as opposed to Mestizos. Anyone that is ranked above us is to be treated with respect. We also look to those above for guidance and to make large decisions for us. Not only is our culture hierarchal in the socio-economic sense, but also in our families.
Gender roles are very separate in many families. For most families, the men are the breadwinners and the women are the homemakers. The main reason that our society is so hierarchal is that we accept that not everyone is equal in our society and that power is unequally allocated. Nonetheless, we are hardworking and diligent people.
In addition to being hierarchal and valuing relationships, our worldview also centers around how long-term oriented we are. We celebrate the past, live for the present, and set short term goals for the future. We value traditions very highly which is why we celebrate El Día de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, on November 1st and 2nd every year. Death is familiar to us and therefore we celebrate this holiday.
Even though some other countries, like the United States, may find it weird that we make sugar skulls and put out offerings at altars for our ancestors, it is how we realize that we must make the most out of the present. Also, because we like to live in the present, we are very adaptive. We do not plan out everything in our day because we just “go with the flow”. Therefore, our society is very adaptive regarding time and planning.
The final large aspect of our worldview is our need for certainty. Our society is based on rules and dislikes eccentric behavior. We expect our society to be structured so that unexpected risks do not appear. We try to be extremely punctual and precise in our daily lives. We also feel the need to always be busy because time is precious to our culture. Our rule-based society is what keeps us balanced and not tipping into disorganization.
In closing, our culture is unique in the sense of our varying aspects of worldview. Although our culture may be from a mix of two different ends of the spectrum, we have flourished into a rich and invigorating culture.
