Sleep
Sleep is an absolute necessity amongst the human population. Not only does it provide physical rest, but it is also quite important for physiological repair, consolidating of memories, and clearing products of metabolism from the brain. Despite acknowledging its overall importance,sleep is a topic that I would not typically associate with much cultural variation as I assumed the majority of the human population follow similar sleep patterns. However, it was interesting to discover while reading the textbook the clear cross-cultural differences in sleep habits worldwide.
One aspect that stood out the most to me was how in some cultures, children co-sleep in the same bed as their parents, whereas in others, it is more common for children to sleep separately. This can play a major role in child development as co-sleeping may eliminate the child’s ability to self sooth, however, it can also create a stronger parent-child bond. There is also evidence found in cultures where children co-sleep with their parents that when the child grows up, their education is a matter that is decided by the family and marriages are often arranged by the parents. Alternatively, sleeping separately may aid in developing the child’s independence as well as learning how to individually self-sooth before falling asleep.












