Tables groaning with food, girls dressed even for a usual walk so that it takes your breath away, boys competing among themselves in expensive gadgets and cars... If you listen to our fellow citizens, it begins to seem that in Azerbaijan it is not impossible to give a girl 101 roses or take her on a weekend visit to Paris for a single restaurant. Any new demonstration of beautiful life creates a logical question - why do the people in Azerbaijan love luxury so much?
We can not say that the average Azerbaijani is rich. According to Echo, in 2013 the average income per capita was 10 manat per day. However, often the owner of this income is afraid to admit even to himself that this or that thing is too expensive for him, not worth the money and is not needed. What is the reason?
One of them is that the Azerbaijan culture can be attributed to collectivist ones. In such a culture, the opinions of others about the man, his character and the place of others in the social hierarchy are very important for him. He probably feels a part of a large group, rather than a separate, independent personality. Besides, buying luxury items , showing expensive phones and jewelry, he enters into competition with others, seeking to assert his position.
Sometimes such a demonstration of status can take quite bizarre forms. Imagine you are going to meet a woman with a daughter two years old. The girl smiles at you and shows her shining gold teeth. A similar pattern, though rare, could be observed in the 90s, when some of our compatriots observed a fashion for gold teeth. The fact is that teeth attract much attention, especially when talking or smiling. Beautiful healthy teeth are a symbol of people looking after themselves. Our compatriots appear in a dual situation - on the one hand, in this way they show the family wealth, but on the other - it turns out that the owner of the gold has lost its own, and with it, the health. Now the fashion for gold teeth is gone, but the passion for the demonstration of wealth has not disappeared, and has just taken other forms.
A distinctive feature of luxury is that it should give enjoyment -sleek design of luxury watches, exquisite taste of expensive cheese and stuff. This, in particular, was found by the company Apple - as the late Steve Jobs said, Apple computer keys are like candies that you want to lick. The basis of the success of the company is also careful attention to detail and, as a result, aesthetic pleasure, which you can get from its products.
The question arises whether any person has a desire for luxury or this is a specific feature of the character. There are different classifications of characters, and according to one of them belonging to the German psychiatrist Leonhard luxury is mainly sought by demonstrative personality. Actually, their name came from this. Demonstrative people are artistic, they can easily come to various roles to gain approval, fame and applause. They tend to be praised. They have negative traits - a constant desire to be in the spotlight, intolerance to praising other people, annoying self-confidence and high aspirations. They can write in social networks that they work, for example, at BP, in fact having no relation to this company.
We cannot say that all the inhabitants of Azerbaijan are like that, but certain features of demonstrative character can be found at many people. Demonstrative people tend to emphasize their luxury and beautiful life. They love all the elite and, as they say, the things that have no analogues. The most expensive car in the city, most expensive phone, etc. is needed to attract the greatest possible attention. For this, some people tend to deny their own need for the essentials or to make rash actions - for example, to buy a car at a price of an apartment, not having an apartment or an ability to drive a car.
How are demonstrative personalities formed? Psychoanalysts believe that the basis of this nature is strong repression of their socially unacceptable desires and feelings, especially sexual.
According to other interpretations, the reason for the formation of demonstrative personality at children is their parents' inability to respond to their strong emotions. All they can is to block these manifestations, children's anger, resentment, sadness and so on. The child tries to adapt to the parents and ceases to express emotions. As a result, he begins to ignore his own desires and to adapt to the others, hoping to get praise. He badly needs approval and support and tries to earn it with his "good behavior" and demonstration of his status (if others respect me and I am given this status and get paid well, then you should, too) with expensive gifts and beautiful gestures. He scrambles to show that he is rich, successful and happy, even though it may not be the case. However, he does not notice his insincerity, since he does not understand himself what he needs. It should be added that demonstrative family forms demonstrative personality and instills the desire and the need to show and prove his worth through physical features.
From the above it is not right to conclude that the desire for luxury and other demonstrative things is something reprehensible. It is difficult to imagine our life without such demonstrative people as actors, singers and artists. The same luxury is, as already noted, the means of obtaining pleasure. However, a measure of things is important here and it is also crucial to understand the ultimate goal of an action or acquisition, otherwise this can harm you and your wallet.
Chinara Guliyeva
ANN.Az
