论文最终版TheDifferencesof_Family_Valuesbetween_China_and_America_.DOC

1、 CONTENTS摘 要IABSTRACTIIIntroduction1CHAPTER1. The different understandings of family values21.1 Chinese understandings of family values21.2 American understandings of family values2CHAPTER2. The differences of core spirits for Chinese people and Americans32.1 The Chinese emphasis on the collectivism

2、32.2 The Americans focuses on the individualism4CHAPTER3. The differences of conjugal relationship53.1 The different marriage values53.1.1 Chinese peoples family values in marriage53.1.2 American peoples attitude to marriage6CHAPTER4. The differences of relationships between parents and children74.1

3、 The differences of family education74.1.1 Chinese concept of family education7CHAPTER5. Reasons for these differences95.1 The different history backgrounds95.3 The differences of the traditional cultures9CHAPTER6. The influences of different family values106.1 The influences of cultures116.2 Influe

4、nce to the society116.3 Influence to the personal development12CHAPTER7. Conclusion12Acknowledgements14参考文献15诚 信 承 诺 书16关于学位论文使用授权的声明16摘 要 家庭是社会的组成部分，也是一个社会稳定和发展的基础。因此，家庭观差异直接或间接地决定了他们在社会交往中的行为和言语。本文，从不同的方面谈论了中国和美国的家庭观的差异。例如：中美两国家庭核心精神的不同，家庭成员关系的不同，以及婚姻观念和家庭教育的不同。造成这些差异的原因，包括不同的背景、社会条件的差异以及传统文化的差异。这

5、些差异的不同也反过来影响着文化、个人与社会的发展。本文的理由是加深两国的相互理解、增进交流，避免两国在交流当中引起不必要的错误，从而构建美好和谐的国家。关键词： 家庭观；差异；婚姻16ABSTRACTFamily is the basic unit of the society, which also is the stable of social and basic of development. So the differences of family values are extremely important to them in behavior of social communic

6、ation and language. This paper focused on the differences of family values between China and America, which appeared in different in aspects. For example: the different core spirits for Chinese people and Americans. The differences of family relationship caused the perspectives of marriage and conce

7、pts of family educations are different. Reasons for these differences are different, including the different backgrounds, social conditions and differences of traditional cultural. At the same time, these differences influences on the cultural, personal development and society. This paper is to deep

8、en the understanding and increase the communication between these two countries, in order to avoid making the unnecessary mistakes, and form a beautiful country.Key words: family values; differences; marriageIntroductionFamily is one of the most frequent human societies. With the formation and devel

9、opment of the family, family values were formed as soon as possible. In the middle of the 20th century，under the influences of those new ideas, family values underwent great changes and deeply influenced the human life. In modern society, the most important meaning of family is to give birth and bri

10、ng up children. Family must be able to maintain the family members and protect the interests of each member as much as possible. Family has a huge influence on peoples thoughts and behaviors, which is a bridge between people and society. We Chinese focus on the whole family while American emphasis o

11、n individualism. Therefore, the relationships among family members are also quite different. However, reasons for these differences are complicated, including different backgrounds, social conditions and different traditional cultures. Family values reflect peoples different concepts in the whole fa

12、mily. The influences of family values can see from different aspects, such as cultures, personal development and society. The analysis of family values can help us to understand China and America in cultures, social conditions and personal development, as well as to deepen the understanding and incr

13、easing the communication between these two countries. This paper mainly discussed the differences of family values between China and America; it is divided into several parts. The first part analyzes the different understandings of family values; the second part compares the different core spirits f

14、or Chinese and Americans, the third part is to talk about the differences of attitude to the family members and relationships, these caused differences of perspectives in marriage and differences of family education. Besides，the forth part analyzes the reasons for these differences. And the last par

15、t focuses on the influences of the family values, such as the influences in the cultures, influences to personal development and society and so on.CHAPTER1. The different understandings of family values1.1 Chinese understandings of family valuesIn China, Chinese people have a strong sense of family

16、values. Comparing with the western，the Chinese people are lack of the sense of individual. Harmony is the main concept of family. They used to live in a relative network. It is extremely important that Chinese people like to establish and maintain the family and other business relation. In China, th

17、e extended family is made up of several generations, which are always organized from old to young, the oldest being the leader of the family usually contains great grandfather/grandmother, fathers brothers and sisters, fathers daughters and sons. Therefore，Chinese people are deeply influenced by the

18、 philosophy of Confucianism, they consider the family as a team, and they emphasize cooperation and unification among family members. Harmony is the main concept. It is well known that almost every ancient family has its rules, and those rules are very strict, every member needs to obey them, and th

19、ose who do not observe the regulations would be punished. For example, if one of the family members harms the interests of the family, he or she would be regarded as a selfish person，which is unacceptable for other family members. In the Chinese extended family, peoples relationships are very comple

20、x. In China, there is another relation circle, we called outside circle. The outside of the circle is relatives; most people have their brothers, sisters and some other relatives. This circle of the outside relation is always extension, usually this circle is stable，but sometimes there are some cont

21、radictions in family. 1.2 American understandings of family valuesComparing with Chinese，for most Americans, there are not many American relatives living together .American values are very popular among the family. Many families are democratic; every family member has their own right for speaking. O

22、n the one hand, American nuclear family focuses on individualism and they advocate equality, freedom and independence. In their eyes, grandparents, parents, brothers and sisters are only “relatives”, not family members. Due to the idea of equality, freedom and independence, the relationship of famil

23、y members in America is very simple. On the other hand, American family seems full of equality. Children often regard their parents as their good friends, but not fear for them. Husband and children are sharing the household jobs. In most cases, children have their own privacy in their room. They ta

24、ke on their own management of money when they are young. Also they may take part-time job in every week. And parents often give the freedom of the decision to children; they can choose what they want, such as, what they wear or their job and partner. The Americans believe that everyone should have t

25、he right to be recognized and respected and has the right to live according to their own wishes. Just as the different cultures in different family, American families are faced with many problems. With the social press are more and more American families are divided.We can see that the understanding

26、s of the family values between China and America are different. Chinese people advocate harmony while American people support independence, freedom and equality, and the two understandings lead to a larger member of differences in dealing with the relationship between parents and children.CHAPTER2.

27、The differences of core spirits for Chinese people and Americans2.1 The Chinese emphasis on the collectivism The brief definition of collectivism is emphasizing the importance of the collectivity and the nations, it focuses on the collective interest should exceed in individual interest. With the in

28、fluences of the traditional ideas, Chinese people think that human is one of the members in collective. Individual will have no power or use when they leave the collectivity. So everyone in the society should attach importance to the cooperation and power of the collectivity. Collectivism influences

29、 the Chinese peoples behavior; we called “social values”. Chinese people always regard the friend, society, nations as important. In China, children usually live with their parents even after they are grown-ups， since Chinese people want a more united family and closer relationship between family me

30、mbers. They think this living style may help them have more opportunity to understand other family members, also narrow the gap between family members. 2.2 The Americans focuses on the individualismIndividualism is the main culture in America. In their eyes, they believe that the rights and freedom

31、of individual people are the most important right in a society, the behavior or attitude of someone who does things in their own way without being influenced by other people. Besides, the source of the individualism can be seen from two aspects. The first source is depended on the declaration of ind

32、ependence（独立宣言）. In America July 4th in 1776, all men are created equal was made in the declaration of individualism by Jefferson. Later, Americans devoted them into this theory. Most people have the power in their hands. And this is the characteristic of the United States. The second source is acco

33、rding to the separation of the three powers(三权分立), which established the America theory and political implement. The development of America strengthens the political system of the separation of the three powers. In order to better to protect the basic right of people，individual power can judge gover

34、nments power; because everyone has their own speak right and all men are created equal. Individualism is popular in America. Nowadays, the individualism is manifested in many fields. According to their daily life， personal private respected and protected. For the age, marriage, belief and some quest

35、ions, they always evade an answer. Their daily talking is common. Such as: A: Hi, Jack, how are you? B: Fine, thank you, and you? A: Im terrific， thank you. Also, there are some phases in English. For instance: poke push ones nose into other people, meddle in other people affairs(干涉别人的事). Keep your

36、big nose out of our business (我们的事不用你管). Mind your own business(别管闲事)，Put not your hand between the bark and tree(别管别人的家务事) etc. American regards their individualism as a perfect morality. It represents the independence and pride. First, the independence of the American children was encouraged by th

37、e society. When they are talking with their parents, they often use” No”，think to express their opinions. Besides, the old people also focus on the independent; they dont like to accept the hands from others. They think that they can do by themselves. In public, if some people to help the old, they

38、can say“No, no thank you. I can manage”. Individualism is the core spirit in America culture. It is rooted among America society. Knowing the individualism of the American culture can helpful for us to know the family values between China and America. CHAPTER3. The differences of conjugal relationsh

39、ip3.1 The different marriage values3.1.1 Chinese peoples family values in marriage With the influences of the traditional ideas in China, childrens marriage is decided by parents, and marriage is not a personal affair. In the past, marriage was a family event, which indicated that the parents has re

40、sponsibility to arrange their childrens marriage, so parents had the right to help their children choose marriage partners.Nowadays, if their children were single in family, parents will have the reasonability to help them. In a word, marriage was not a privacy, which always involves many other fami

41、ly affairs. Therefore, compared with the whole family, personal interest is tiny and can be ignored. Usually, in ancient China, marriage was regarded as a way to communicate and enhance the relations with other country, which was the best way to realize the unification to some extend. In history, th

42、ere are many greatest women sacrificing their personal interests to avoid the war and creates peace. Their marriage made a great contribution at that time. They have no right to choose their love. In general, political marriage is very popular in ancient China. With the traditional ideas are rooted

43、in Chinese peoples heart, the two marriage family should be at the same social class, the marriage would be successful. Although there are many young fell in love with each other, they cant get married, because the social class of their family is different. The influences of the Chinese civilization

44、 is one of the oldest in the world, marriage always stands for the social status and fame of a family. Although these kinds of traditions have already disappeared, they have been existed in modern family. 3.1.2 American peoples attitude to marriage In recent years，the marriage and family values is g

45、radually changed in America. Compared with the Chinese attitude to the marriage, Americans attitudes are much freer. More and more people think that marriage is not essential condition to make up family. Without being married but cohabitation is the universal phenomenon.Because of the different cult

46、ures and traditions, American and Chinese people have quite different attitudes toward marriage, American family values are based on the independence，freedom and equality, they believe that every member is an independent individual; Obviously the importance of the marriage is gradually decreased. Co

47、mparing with the China, Americans views of marriage is different. They think marriage is a private matter, and any person has no right to interfere with it. Americans pay attention to self, and their traditional marriage advocates free love and marriage, and parents rarely interfere their childrens

48、marriage. As an independent person, one has their right to choose his or her love.In American family, the type of family is complicated. Such as nuclear family, single parents family, step family, dink family, gay family, cohabitation and separation.CHAPTER4. The differences of relationships between parents and children4.1 The differences of family education4.1.1 Chinese concept of family education In recent years, the integration are becoming increasing acute, we know family, social and social education. Family is the important place to educate people. However fa