Chinese Versus American Culture

SOME GENERAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CHINESE AND AMERICAN CULTURES

	Chinese	Americans
Conception Of the Self	Collectivist: Higher value placed on group cooperation and individual modesty.	Individualist: Higher value placed on self-reliance. Self-promotion is more accepted. High value placed on "freedom" from externally imposed constraints.
Social Relationships	Formal, hierarchical. People most comfortable in the presence of a hierarchy in which they know their position and the customs/rules for behavior in the situation.	Informal, egalitarian. People most comfortable with their social equals; importance of social rankings minimized.
Friendship	Small number of close, lifelong friends who feel deeply obligated to give each other whatever help might seem required.	Large collection of "friends" and acquaintances which changes over time and involves only limited mutual obligations.
Obligation	Relationships with other people involve reciprocal obligations.	People avoid interdependent relationships and situations that might entail long-term obligations.
Task vs. Relationship Orientation	Relationship-oriented: Maintaining a harmonious relationship has priority over accomplishing tasks.	Task-oriented. Relationships are less important than getting the work done.
Harmony vs. "Truth"	Avoid direct confrontation, open criticism, and controversial topics. Concern maintaining harmony and with "face."	Willing to confront directly, criticize, discuss controversial topics, press personal opinions about what they consider "the truth. Little concern with "face."
Role of laws, rules, and regulations	More faith in personal relationships than in written rules and procedures for structuring interactions.	Written rules presumably apply to everyone and are assumed to produce fair, reasonable procedures and decisions.
Time Consciousness	Relatively more attention to the past and to the longer-term future.	Less interested in the past; eye on near-term future.
Ascribed vs. Achieved Status	Traditionally, a person's status in the society was based importantly on inherited characteristics such as age, gender, and family. This is changing.	People's status is based mainly on their own achievements, including education obtained and level of success realized in their line of work.