The Cultural Attitudes Towards Debt Around the World
Debt has always been an evident reality of human society, even before money as we know it ever existed. Even though the concept of debt is universal, people’s attitudes toward it can vary significantly based on factors such as geography, culture, and more.
Interestingly, most people don’t often realize it, but cultural attitudes toward debt play an important role in shaping personal financial behavior as well. For instance, some cultures might perceive debt to be a sign of personal failure, while others might be comfortable about it.
Here, in this blog, I will walk you through the ways different cultures have different attitudes toward debt and learn something from their perspective. So, let’s dive in without any further ado.
Eastern Perspective on Debt
In most Eastern cultures, such as in countries like China and Japan, debt is the last thing you want to be associated with. This is common across most countries on the Eastern side of the world, where debt is highly stigmatized.
In extreme cases, people might not even think twice before shaming you for taking on debt. As a result, you can still feel an unsaid cultural pressure in the Easter region to discourage people from filing for complete bankruptcy, even if it might be in their best interest,
Western Take on Debt
Contrary to Eastern beliefs, Western countries are more liberal with their thoughts and take on debt. Most of these countries thrive on capitalist ideology, where risk-taking and entrepreneurship play key roles.
Every once in a while, some businesses might fail, requiring one to file for bankruptcy. Thanks to the liberal outlook, there are laws to help people with bankruptcy. This gives people a chance to start fresh and work on rehabilitating them.
Africa’s Perspective of Debt
Unlike the Eastern and Western cultures, many countries in the African continent perceive debt as financial distress. But what’s unique here is that they rely on community-based systems to address these financial challenges.
Many African cultures also have informal saving groups to help people pool their resources and assist each other financially. However, when it comes to bankruptcy, different countries take different approaches. More developed countries like South Africa take a formal approach, while other countries rely on informal ways to address this issue.
Debt Perception in the Middle East
Islamic norms and cultures play a very important role in shaping one’s perception of debt in the Middle Eastern region. For instance, countries practicing the Sharia law prohibit people from charging interest on loans and borrowings.
Instead, these laws encourage people to arrange something where they can share each other’s profits and losses. This concept works great in terms of preventing people from getting exploited and keeping everyone in fair borrowing conditions.
Latin American Perspective on Debt
Anyone familiar with a little history and current affairs knows that the Latin American region has always been a victim of economic instability. Unfortunately, these adversities are what have affected people’s perception of debt in most countries on this continent.
What this resulted in is taking a pragmatic approach to debt with law caring for the interest of both debtors and creditors. As far as I understand, the primary logic behind this perspective is that it helps promote faster economic recovery for everyone.
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, it is important to admit that there is hardly anyone in today’s modern and globalized world who can go on to do something great without debt. This should not come as a surprise since access to the right resources is not a reality for most people.
As a result, they are left with no better alternative than to depend on borrowings and debt consolidation loans to make ends meet. It is fair to conclude that society’s perception of debt does affect a person’s financial behavior, making it important for everyone to be responsible for their debt.