Green Curve
  • Cotswold Bridge at Bibury in the Cotswolds
Green Curve

5 Characteristics of the British

1) Forming a queue for almost anything.

queues

2) The British reserve – ‘stiff upper lip’. We are a nation famed for our politeness. A quarter of men and women are judged to be passive – avoiding confrontation at all costs. Far from being a negative label , the fact that the Brits are more likely to be passive personality types is something we can be proud of. Passive , in this instance , doesn’t stand for not caring or being lazy, but shows someone who is easy going and wants to keep the harmony. Brits are shy of confrontation , going out of their way to avoid causing unnecessary conflict.

passive

3) Make a cuppa (of tea) in a crisis. There is possibly a good reason for this – research has shown that even a single cup of tea can significantly reduce anxiety levels after suffering a stressful experience. As well as the soothing qualities of tea itself it was found that the act of putting the kettle on also helped by tapping into a collective conscious and symbolism. The ritual of making and drinking tea – particularly during times of stress – is at the very core of British culture.

cuppa

4) The British Weather. British people talk about the weather all the time because it changes all the time. The weather for us is a National obsession.

weather

5) Obsessed with class. The British class system is complex. So complex that even the British don’t understand it! A simplified set of hierarchical social categories would be upper, middle and lower classes. One can say that things have moved on and perhaps the following 7 categories now reflect British society more accurately.

  • Elite – The most privileged group in the United Kingdom, distinct from the other six classes through its wealth.
  • Established Middle Class – The second wealthiest – the largest and most gregarious group.
  • Technical Middle Class –  a small distinctive group which is prosperous but distinguished by its social isolation and cultural apathy.
  • New Affluent workers – a young class group which is socially and culturally active with middling levels of economic capital (savings , house value).
  • Traditional working class – not completely deprived as they have reasonable house values explained by this group having the oldest average age at 66.
  • Emergent service workers – a new young , urban group which is relatively poor but has high social and cultural capital.
  • Precariat – the poorest , most deprived class , scoring low for social and cultural capital.

class