By John Semerdjian - Copyright © 2002. All rights reserved.

Introduction

rying to pinpoint a nation’s character and/or psyche is very hard, but not impossible. Many nations are known for their unique character. The way they say, react and do things with others (foreigners) and with their own. These characteristics combined with commonly conceived thoughts and practices will give an observer a good understanding of that nation’s ‘Character and Psyche’.

This article will give the reader a good understanding of the Armenian character. It’s worth mentioning that many of the good or bad qualities of this Nations’ character can similarly be found in other Nations’ character. Therefore, this article should not be used as a measure of ‘Good’ verses ‘Bad’ in terms of the Armenian character. Instead it should be a guide to better understanding ourselves and helping others (foreigners) understand us - The Armenians.

This article has been compiled from years of cumulative experiences and keen observation. I am not a psychologist or an expert in human behavioural studies, and by no means pretend to be one. I am a professional designer and a problem solver. My years of training and experience in the design field have given me the necessary skills to observe people and learn a great deal about their character. Combined with years of cumulative personal experiences of family, friends and of my own, I was able to deduce the following facts about the Armenian character and psyche. As in any given group of people you may find individuals to whom the results of these findings may not apply, whether Armenian or otherwise. 

The main characteristics of the Armenian character and psyche.

Armenians are born survivors. Since the start of our history over 3000 years ago we have been the subjects of all kinds of atrocities, foreign domination, natural disasters, hardships and genocide. But in spite of all those tragedies, Armenians have survived and we continue to rebuild our lives wherever we find refuge. We value our freedom and always endeavour to live in peace and harmony with others.

Armenians are proud and honest people. We have strong family ties and work together to preserve that unity. We respect our elders and try to learn from their experiences. Thus passing on this knowledge from one generation to another, and by doing so insuring the continuity and the preservation of our cumulative intelligence. We often delude ourselves to being masters of all topics, and in most cases try to advise others on matters that we know little about.

Armenians are very polite and hospitable people. We enjoy good food, music and entertainment. We like get-togethers with family and friends to celebrate special occasions. Armenians spare no expense during such occasions, especially during weddings, Christenings and special birthday parties. There’s an abundance of food and drink (in most cases too much) accompanied by music that is constant and loud! 

Armenians excel in many trade and artistic fields. We are hard working people with sound business and negotiation skills. Negotiating is in our blood. The intensity of the negotiation varies depending on whom we are dealing with. In some extreme cases this practice can result in unnecessary arguments and lead to embarrassing moments.

Because of our inherent business skills, Armenians tend to treat everything as a business transaction. However, if the work to be undertaken does not promise to deliver instant outcomes and/or personal profit, we do not wish to give support or get involved in it. Even if that work or project may benefit the community in the future.

Armenians are inherently jealous people. We have a dominant ‘jealousy’ gene in our character. This may sound bad, but in reality this is one of the main reasons why Armenians are known to be hard working people. We can not except the idea that someone else is better or more well off than ourselves, so we work hard to surpass them.

Armenians can be self-centred and sometimes never satisfied. We seem to think and care only of ourselves and constantly ask for assistance (free assistance) from others without even acknowledging and/or giving them credit for their hard work. There is a very suitable Armenian saying – “You stretch your hand to help, they want the whole arm”.

In fact, Armenians would like everything to be for free. I will illustrate this characteristic with a joke I received by e-mail, which goes like this:

A Florist goes to a Barber for a haircut. After the haircut, he tries to pay the Barber and the Barber says - “Sorry, I cannot accept your money, this is a community service”. The Florist is pleasantly surprised and leaves the shop. The next morning when the Barber opens his shop, he finds a 'Thank you' card and a dozen roses waiting at his door. 

A Few hours later a Policeman enters for a haircut. After the haircut, he tries to pay the Barber and the Barber says - “Sorry, I cannot accept your money, this is a community service”. The Policeman is pleasantly surprised and leaves the shop. The next morning when the Barber opens his shop, he finds a 'Thank you' card and a dozen donuts waiting at his door. 

The same day an Armenian enters for a haircut. After the haircut, he tries to pay the Barber and the Barber says - “Sorry, I cannot accept your money, this is a community service”. The Armenian is pleasantly surprised and leaves the shop. The next morning when the Barber opens his shop… Guess what he finds there?

A dozen Armenians waiting for a free haircut!

Armenians appreciate art and music. But unfortunately know or understand very little about the true value of an artistic work. We always tend to measure the value of a work-of-art by its material cost instead of its true artistic merit.

Often Armenians like to exaggerate or let’s say “extend” reality a bit. We like to make things look harder, bigger or more complicated than they really are. We like to boast about our achievements regardless of the outcome or the quality of the final product.

Punctuality is not one of our strong characteristics. We never manage to start a function or a gathering on time. On such occasions it’s common to hear the Armenian phrase “Haygagan Jamatrootuon”, which means ‘Armenian Timing’ (uttered in a critical tone).

Gossiping is one of the common activities and the most efficient means of spreading news (especially amongst the female sex). There is a funny saying – “If someone passes wind, people will immediately smell it on the other side of the planet”.

Armenians are known to be more of a serious nation than a humorous one. Not that we don’t have a sense of humour, we do, but unlike others we find it hard to laugh at our own faults. Because the history of the Armenian nation is full of tragedies and hardships, our capability to relax and look at the funny side of life has been dramatically effected or diminished.

The two main facets of the Armenian character

Armenians in general have what I call ‘Two Faces’. No! We are not two faced. It’s just that for some reason our character changes when interacting with foreigners as opposed to one of our own.

Lets have a look at “Face one” – ‘Armenians interacting with Armenians’.

In general, Armenians are polite and hospitable people who live in close knit communities. We treat each other with respect and courtesy, as long as both parties act in a humble manner and stay within their social and intellectual boundaries. Basically, not to say or do things that might upset the other person.

Unfortunately, we may fall victim to unfounded gossip circulating amidst the community. When this happens we tend to loose our manners and change our attitude towards each other. We start to look for faults in each other’s personality and lifestyle and use that information to criticise. We may even say things that we know will result in hurting the other person’s feelings. I believe the ‘jealousy’ gene plays a big roll in these situations. It tends to cloud our judgement and makes us act in an unethical way towards our fellow countrymen.

Armenians have a very well known saying when doing business with one another -“You can’t do business with an Armenian”. This attitude is one of the biggest downfalls of our nation. We find it very difficult to work with each other. As a mater of fact, we prefer to give work to foreigners than to one of our own. The reasons for this attitude are complex, but never the less worth examining.

As a ‘client’ an Armenian will always expect to pay less for more. We always negotiate, even after we have received a special discount. We expect that we can make changes to the job specification without having to pay any extra for them.

The Armenian ‘tradesman’ on the other hand, may adopt the unethical attitude of “They are Armenians, what do they know?” As a result he may do a substandard job or exaggerate the true value of the project at hand.

When undertaking any dealings with Armenian institutions, there are even more factors that come into consideration regardless of your Armenian descent or whether the work you intend to do will benefit the Armenian community as whole. The first question inevitably will be, will it cost them any money? Secondly, which political, social or religious denomination do you belong to? Thirdly, what are the immediate benefits to the ‘Institution’ if they decide to support you? Etc. etc. etc… Well, I think you get the picture.

Alternately when the Armenian business owner is approached by an Armenian institution, their first expectation is that they receive the job/merchandise for free or for a generously discounted price. Since most Armenian institutions consider themselves non-profit organisations they somehow believe that the business owner (most probably a hard working parent of two children, who has all kinds of business and family expenses) can afford to do the job for free or give it to them at less than cost price.

When Armenian institutions work together… well no need to continue this, because they never manage to agree to do anything ‘together’ and in those very unique situation when they do so, it always ends up in controversy, unnecessary arguments and final break up.

It really doesn’t take a genius to figure it out - If each and every one of us supported each other then Armenian businesses and individuals would become better off and in return would have the financial capability to help our institutions to grow and prosper. Thereby benefiting the whole community, especially the future generations.

Armenians develop a superiority complex when assigned positions of leadership. This is very apparent when interacting with Armenian community representatives. The fact is that most of our community leaders/representatives do not have the necessary skills or the qualifications to lead or even represent us as a nation. Lack of true leadership skills combined with old fashioned/outdated ideas, pompous and selfish attitudes, secrecy and lack of transparency, and an unwillingness to take responsibility for their actions, encourages many individuals and families to distance themselves from our institutions, in particular the younger generation.

When dealing with Armenian community representatives the phrase “I don’t know, ask him” is a common response. Finding someone who will readily assist you with your inquiries is rare. Unfortunately, it seems nobody knows what is happening. The reality is that they don’t want to get involved and simply give you the run around just to keep you out of their hair (so to speak).

Armenians are quick to wrongfully judge each other. We think we are right even though we haven’t invested enough thought to the subject at hand. We seem to immediately see the negative side of things even though the positive side far outweighs it. We tend to discourage people with good ideas and intensions without allowing them the benefit of the doubt.

Armenians are self opinionated and very competitive. We seem to regularly disagree with each other and try to force our ideas on one another. There is an Armenian saying – “When two Armenians come together, they create three different Churches (denominations) and five different political persuasions”.

When socialising amongst ourselves, we have the tendency of accepting or rejecting people depending on their social and/or religious background. For some reason just being an Armenian seems not to be enough. If even one of the religious, social or political inclinations of a person dose not meet our own criteria, then that person will not be accepted within our “social circle”. This type of discrimination is one of the major contributors to “The White Genocide”. This is the main reason why a great deal of Armenians are distancing themselves from everything ‘Armenian’. By doing so, they are gradually and unknowingly being assimilated into other cultures, much to the detriment of our Armenian identity.

Now lets have a look at “Face Two” – ‘Armenians interacting with Foreigners’.

Armenians go through an amazing character metamorphosis when interacting with foreigners. Suddenly, we become very friendly, social and willing to please.

Some Armenians seem to believe that foreigners, in particular Westerners/Europeans are superior to us. We try to imitate them, talk like them, act like them and in extreme cases even try to hide or deny our own unique culture by adopting theirs. Of course, there are many of us who are very proud of our heritage and try to educate foreigners about the riches of our culture whenever we get the chance to do so.

Armenians are more tolerant towards other nations’ so called “bad habits” as opposed to our own. We seem to think that that is part of their culture and in most cases try not to judge them for their faults. This ‘tolerance’ sends out the wrong message to our younger generation. In effect we may be giving them the ‘green light’ to imitate other cultures and to do as they wish.

One of the most noticeable changes in the character of the Armenian younger generation living in the diaspora today, is the misguided perception that they need to adopt their host country’s language and cultural habits as their primary tool for communication and self-expression. There is nothing wrong with learning other languages.  In fact I encourage every Armenian to learn their host country’s language and culture to the best they can. After all, we live in a foreign culture and it’s our duty as good citizens to try our best to interact and contribute to the well being of the community that we have chosen to be part of. But let’s do so without compromising our own language and culture. For we are no longer Armenians if we stop practising our own Mother language amongst ourselves and dismiss our cultural traditions as being old fashioned and irrelevant.

Armenians find it easy to do business with foreigners. In fact we prefer to do so, rather than with one of our own (for the same reasons as mentioned in the previous section). We become more accommodating and willing to please. Our politeness is at its peak and we tend to agree on things more often than we normally do. Some of us think that “Negotiation” is a bad word when dealing with foreigners, and it is considered “A shame” if you try to bargain when doing business with Westerners. Of course, anyone with sound and confident business sense will know that this is not true, and as the saying goes – “There are no rules when doing business” – as long as you act in an ethical and professional manner.

In Conclusion

This study has looked into many facets of the Armenian character, some good and some bad. It is very obvious that we pride ourselves to be honest, hardworking, hospitable and family oriented nation. We value our freedom and always endeavour to live in peace and harmony with other nations.

Unfortunately, our faults seem to be as diverse and colourful as our virtues. Our dominant ‘jealousy’ gene has contributed to many of our downfalls. We find it very hard to work with and support one another. We are self opinionated and quick to wrongfully judge each other. If only we were as accommodating and tolerant with each other as we are with foreigners (Westerners).

It’s true when they say – “The fish stinks from its head down”. It is time for us to elect individuals who possess the right skills and education combined with a positive attitude to guide and represent this nation (Yes, there are many if we look closely). Our leaders and community representatives have an obligation to put the community’s needs before their own personal gains. They should encourage and support “All” members of our community regardless of their religious, social or political inclinations. After all, we are all Armenians.

Your say

I welcome your thoughts on this topic. If anyone wishes to comment or add to the above article, you may do so by writing to ‘Hye Etch’. Please use the “Contact us” form to get in touch with us. All correspondence to be in language that is civilised and mature.