My Interpersonal Communication Experiences With Mr. Joseph Hindinger

Believe it or not, but American and Chinese culture do have something’s in common. They see eye-to-eye on some aspects. Like providing for their children “Parents work together for the well-being of their children” [Example from Article]. It is true that parents do the best they can to work towards a better financial life for their kids. That’s why many Chinese parents come over to the states, so that they can provide a better life, and a better education. They would also go to great lengths for their children no matter what the cause “Parents will risk their life for their children” [Example from Article]. Any parent would risk their life for their children no matter what ethnicity, or cultural aspect! There is no bond like a parent and their child.

Although both cultures place high value on educational and financial achievement, which fosters a high level of competition, a distinct variance can be seen. (Ellingwood) From an early age, Chinese youth are taught to think of their nation and people as a whole, with the common good of their society being a driving force for their education and behaviors. In contrast, the youth of the United States are driven more by individual achievement and personal growth, especially from a financial standpoint. Conflict and harmony are central in the educational system of China, while the US accepts or even openly embraces conflict. Youth in the United States are not dedicated to friends the way they are in China, and they will make sacrifices in their interpersonal relationships in order to benefit themselves, as opposed to making a personal sacrifice in order to help their peers. However there is a very clear cultural universal between the two countries in the fact that educational achievement is promoted and highly valued by the older members of society, along with their governing bodies. (Buzzle) A lack of material success is frowned upon in both nations, although what defines "success" can be widely varied in terms of monetary

Collective cultures (China) value harmony, concern for others, & group goals while individualism culture value independence and personal goals

American culture, despite the beauty of such diversity, has some draw backs. As nation, we are amongst the least healthy in the world with an alarmingly high percentage of obesity. This could very well be a byproduct of our culture. As for other aspects of our culture, American’s tend to be very motivated in life with goals that are often success and wealth oriented. These goals are focused on the individual person; however, Chinese people tend to be focused on the community and family. They look to each other for support throughout their lives and this is where the achievements that Chinese people strive for is oriented around (Lu and Gilmour).

In American and Chinese culture self-conduct is used to teach children. In the Chinese culture they practice Guan, which is to educate, care, control, support and love. They follow Confucianism, which is criticism to encourage to push them to gain social values. Confucianism is a strict action that is practiced. China continues to make every effort to reach for success. China has high values for individualism and respect of adolescents to others. China always looks toward the future and never lets any short interests interfere with that which they praise and are valued ideas in which made China a secure society and held together for thousands of years. China’s stable society is payable to the way they obey to their future commitments established by discipline practices that were taught at childhood.

Since the reform and open, interdependence is one of psychological dimensions of Collectivism. As we know that Chinese Culture emphasizes Collectivism like having lunch together, living together and so on. On the contrary, Individualism is the major culture in Western countries. But as far as I concerned, the European American people are more likely than Chinese-Americans. They are used to evaluate people’s behaviors in a bid to assess the personality. And now I will divide the essay as two parts. Part one will put forth the reason why Chinese culture is including Interdependence instead of Independence. Part two will take a phenomenon that Chinese culture is being affected by Western culture as an example to prove Chinese culture including Interdependence.

Confucianism and Taoism are two well known philosophies from China. Created by Confucius and Lao-tzu, these ideas have developed side by side for more than 2,000 years. Throughout history, these two frames of mind have guided large regions of the world at different times. In American society, these two ideologies would produce very different results should they be implemented. Although they do have certain similarities, Confucianism’s values of Filial Piety and Humaneness would be very beneficial to American society while Taoism’s principals of inaction and individualized independence would be detrimental.

There are many aspects of the Chinese American culture that other ethnic groups do not understand. Social hierarchy, an overarching aspect of the Chinese American community, is a paradigm that shapes Chinese American culture. This social hierarchy often affect personal decisions that may prompt a Chinese national to want to immigrate to the United States. Once here, many of these now Chinese Americans are forced to transact with the larger American population while negotiating their spot in their expatriate hierarchy. As a Chinese family immigrates into the US, they are faced with many decisions in regards to their acculturation and eventual assimilation. While negotiating these obstacles, individual Chinese Americans are faced with the dilemma of what customs they want to retain and what cultural nuances they want to discard. As there are many thriving Chinese-American communities in large US cities, it becomes imperative that social workers further understand Chinese-American culture.

Individualism is an idea or norm that one opt to live as they feel like and the life belongs to that individual, thus lives as he/she sees fit, at on own judgment and his/her efforts and pursue values and beliefs of his own choice. “It’s the idea that the individual is sovereign, an end in himself, and the fundamental unit of moral concern,” (The Objective Standard, 2016). Collectivism on other side is the idea that an individual’s life belongs to a group or community instead of their own. Thus, an individual has no rights of their own except for what is defined by the group as the norm. This leads to sacrifices of one owns values and goals for the group is greater good. Collectivism is mainly used in my country where I come from, hence we have saying that it takes the entire village to raise a child. This simply means that particular group henceforth makes hat we work as group of our association and decisions. “From the day of his birth until the day of his death society allows him to enjoy certain so-called rights and deprives him of others; not . . . because society desires especially to favour or oppress the individual, but because its own preservation, welfare, and happiness are the prime considerations,” (The Objective Standard, 2016). My culture involves collectiveness where as I have peers from all over the world hence, it is easy to observe

According to 2, individualism asserts that beings belong to themselves rather than the group or society in which they live in. This maintains that they can live life however they wish to. The moral locus is that of the individual. In opposition, collectivism asserts that a human being actually belongs to the community and is just a piece of the puzzle. It is the duty of a collectivist to serve the greater good of the community that they are a piece of, although important. The moral locus is that of the community. According to 3, African, South American, Asian, and Central American cultures tend to be more collectivistic. It also states that people across these spectrums are likely to see themselves differently as well.

I think Confucius had a point when he wanted us to focus on relationships and forms of human behavior, the thought of knowledge being frightening and without abstract thought it is seemingly useless. I think it is interesting the concept of countries being collectivist verse individualist. Collectivists rely on relationships and one another while individualist rely on personal beliefs. America, unsurprisingly, is not only an individualist but the most individualist country. Because of America being so individualist we do not cater towards those that migrate from a collectivist society thus setting them back until they can learn to be bi-cultural. I think it is so messed up, the idea of the dominant verse dominated verse immigrant culture we have today. We are described as a melting pot but we are anything but. If anything we are oil and water, unwilling to mix and unable to be forced. We are thrown together in a soggy salad bowl that lacks flavor and it is fully bitter. It is sad to think that one must “act white” to fit

Life in America is some in the same and some indifferent as China. American Men and Women are to most degree equal. Americans have more freedoms than the Chinese. The Chinese

In a world as overwhelming with differences, individuals are molded by many factors, and culture is one that follows up on each person. Diverse societies instruct different values, and what may be well mannered in the U.S. could exceptionally offend in China. As people from different cultural groups, individuals can misjudge each other; therefore, the U.S. and China can learn to collaborate across cultural lines as individuals and as a society. Becoming aware of cultural differences can enable both countries to deal with each other more

The people in China are rich in culture just like other Asian countries. Therefore, to be involve with Chinese people in China for business, undertsanding their values and culture are very important. The first important thing to understand about Chinese is their devotion to collectivism. Chinese is trained from very early to consider himself as a dependent segment of a group, which is also called totalitarianism. It is helpful to think of the notion of family in China as a template applied to many networks of relationships that hold the society together. In the Chinese business context, the notion of family is about more than the emotional support and ties of a nuclear family. Family members, for

I would agree that Americans are very individualized and that we were taught that way at a very early age. In fact, Poranee Natadecha-Sponsel shows in her essay probably one of the biggest and maybe one of the most disturbing ways that the Asian culture and American culture differ in this area. Sponsel writes how in the Asian culture, the family will move an elder family member into the family home to take care of them, unlike most of the American culture who will find hired help or rotate family member to assist with the elderly family member (Natadecha-Sponsel 263). This just shows how we as Americans try to take care of ourselves first before anyone else. The Asian culture takes care of family first and foremost before anything else.