Essay: Punjabi Culture Reflection: Feelings, Analysis, and Action Plan

This essay provides a comprehensive reflection on Punjabi culture, examining its profound influence on the student's personal identity, feelings, and perceptions. The essay begins by defining culture and then explores the student's identification with Punjabi culture, highlighting how it shapes their thoughts, behaviors, and emotions. The student discusses feelings of vulnerability and discomfort due to differing cultural norms. The evaluation section delves into the specific aspects of Punjabi culture that influence the student's lens, including gender roles, religious values, and family traditions. An analysis of the impact of cultural diversity is presented, acknowledging how the student's understanding of others has evolved. The essay concludes with a sense of respect and reverence towards all, and an action plan that outlines how the student intends to deepen their understanding of diverse cultures and address biases. The essay uses the Gibbs Reflective Cycle to structure the reflection, providing a well-organized and insightful exploration of the topic, supported by relevant references.

Running head: ESSAY
Reflection on Punjabi culture
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ESSAY
Description- Culture is an umbrella term that refers to the social norms and behaviour
that are prevalent in the society. I belong to the Punjabi culture that is one of the richest and
oldest cultures of the world, and can be traced back to antiquity. My thoughts, feelings, and
perceptions are largely influenced by my culture.
Feelings- I agree with the idea that my Punjabi culture greatly influences my
personality, behaviour and emotions. Culture is generally defined as shared values, norms
and beliefs, thus creates a significant impact on the manner in which a person behaves, one
of the most common assumption in this regard is that individuals who take birth and are bred
in similar culture share identical personality traits (Mesquita, Boiger & De Leersnyder,
2016). However, my dressing sense and cuisine often makes me feel vulnerable and
uncomfortable since I have faced derogatory comments from people did not identify with my
traditions and faith.
Evaluation- In Punjabi culture, women are held responsible for looking after their
children and household, and are generally considered imperative for managing the
expenditure of the household (Karrebæk, Stæhr & Varis, 2015). This has influenced my
perception and beliefs, and made me realise the importance of showing respect and dignity
towards all people, regardless of their gender. My cultural values, particularly my religious
values of Sikhism have also made me realise the importance of promoting human dignity and
equality for all humans. My cultural lens is also influenced by Punjabi heritage and family
values that have been handed down, both of which focus on the fact that all people are in
possession of equal rights, in relation to cultivating their spirituality.
Analysis- Taking into consideration the fact that culture plays an important role in
shaping our behaviour, cultural diversity has been recognised as an essential component in
current scenario (Fong et al., 2016). Initially, I was not much aware of the underlying factors

2ESSAY
that governed the cultural beliefs of other people. However, gradually I have started to realise
that cultural diversity makes us accept, and even to a certain degree, assimilate and integrate
with new cultures. The constituents of emotions are widespread, but the forms are social
constructions. My Punjabi culture has helped me interpret and understand the behaviour of
others and also helped me realise that the cultural norms dictate the positive and negative
emotions and experiences of other people.
Conclusion- I feel that the culture of Punjabi societies have uniform value systems,
thus leading to the development of similar traits amongst people who belong to my culture.
Thus, it can be stated that my Punjabi culture has influenced my perception towards other
people and has also instilled in me a sense of respect and reverence towards all.
Action plan- I intend to gain a sound understanding of the values and morals of
different cultures of the people who surround me. I also want to prevent the demonstration of
any discriminatory attitude towards people who do not dress or have cuisine that is not in
alignment with my culture. I will try to gain a sound awareness of my own biases and will
also demonstrate an accepting attitude towards other cultural differences by fostering
communication with people from culturally diverse background.

3ESSAY
References
Fong, E. H., Catagnus, R. M., Brodhead, M. T., Quigley, S., & Field, S. (2016). Developing
the cultural awareness skills of behavior analysts. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 9(1),
84-94.
Karrebæk, M. S., Stæhr, A., & Varis, P. (2015). Punjabi at heart: Language, legitimacy, and
authenticity on social media. Discourse, Context & Media, 8, 20-29.
Mesquita, B., Boiger, M., & De Leersnyder, J. (2016). The cultural construction of
emotions. Current Opinion in Psychology, 8, 31-36.