Alot of people think that people who have grown up to in the west have a completely different mentality to the people that have grown up in Pakistan.
I don’t think that the mentality is COMPLETELY different. A common religion and culture…can bring about some similarity in values and beliefs, etc. But since the environments are so vastly different…it accounts for SOME differences in mentality. In the west…Desis are a minority…whereas in Pakistan it’s the predominant culture. The former try to find a balance so they can assimilate into a country where the predominant culture is different from their own. It makes sense…your environment shapes you. So, yes, to address the above point…there will be SOME differences in mentality…not necessarily entirely different.
The other day, a friend of mine said, “if you go to Pakistan, the people act all nice infront of you, but as soon as your back is turned they backstab you!”. He also went on to say, “when they see your from abroad, they think your loaded and try to be real friendly with you because they want something from you”.
Backstabbing…jealousy…insecurity…selfishness…arrogance…all part of human nature …they transcend culture and creed. I have relatives in West who are nice to your face…and mean to your face…and will also backstab you. I have relatives in Pakistan who are sincere and that I trust…and others who I’m more careful around. I do feel…that some of my relatives have this view that those living in the US are rich. It’s an issue that come up recently…when a cousin of mine who lives in Pak indirectly voiced such assumption about us. They simply see the conversion of dollars to rupees…they don’t know how challenging it can be to live in the west and support a family. Since the standard of living is better compared to Pak…it can lead to such assumptions as “Oh they’re loaded.”
Now this makes me think, why is it that so many people generalise things like that surely this can be apllied to the world as a whole and not just the Pakistanis. Im sure you see that everywhere no matter what your nationality or religion.
I gave you the example of the a difference in economy/standard of living…which can lead to generalizations. One’s experiences (good or bad) lead to generalizations. It also possible that if one is interacting more frequently with a people of a certain race…it leads to generalizations about them.