Misperceptions of Chinese Peopleabout North American Culture
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[Abstract] This paper aims at figuring out some of the misperceptions of chinese people about north american culture and giving a detailed analysis of the reasons of those misperceptions from cultural perspective. At the same time， recommendations for reducing the misperceptions in understanding different cultures are provided in the paper. Some related cultural models will be applied to analyze the deep reasons of the misperceptions.
[Key words] misperception；cultural；reasons
1.Introduction
The rapid development of globalization characterized the world today by a growing number of communications between people from different countries with different cultural background. But the different culture orientations might result in communication misunderstandings and culture conflicts. To solve those kinds of misunderstandings and conflicts， different cultural information needs to be studied， for different culture-oriented people may have different perceptions toward the same phenomenon.
The author of this paper talked a lot with both her Chinese partners and American partner. While talking with them， she realized that her American partner does not quite agree with some of the ideas that her Chinese partners hold about North American culture. Therefore， this paper aims at figuring out some of the misperceptions of Chinese people about North American culture and giving a detailed analysis of the reasons of those misperceptions from cultural perspective. At the same time， recommendations for reducing the misperceptions in understanding different cultures are provided in the paper. Some related cultural models will be applied to analyze the deep reasons of the misperceptions.
2.Literature Review
Intercultural communication is a hotly discussed topic by scholars at home and abroad. Generally speaking， “it occurs when a member of one culture produces a message for consumption by a member of another culture” （Samovar， Porter， and Stefani， 2000： 46）.” And more precisely， “intercultural communication is communication between people whose cultural perceptions and symbol systems are distinct enough to alter the communication event” （Samovar， Porter， and Stefani， 2000： 46）. According to Pong Shiyong， there are two basic goals of studying intercultural communication. One of which is studying the various relationships between cultural values and interpersonal behaviors among people from different cultural groups when they are communicating with each other. The other one is the relationship between culture and social behaviors （Pong Shiyong， 2005）.
“Many anthropologists， social psychologists， and communication scholars have devised taxonomies that can be used to analyze key behavioral patterns found in particular cultures” （Samovar， Porter， and Stefani， 2000： 65）.
One of them is Kluckhohn， Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck’s Value Orientations. Kluckhohn， Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck reached a conclusion that people turn to their culture for answers to the following five questions： （1） what is the character of human nature？ （2） What is the relation of humankind to nature？ （3） What is the orientation toward time？ （4） What is the value placed on activity？ （5） What is the relationship of people to each other？ （as cited in Samovar， Porter， and Stefani， 2000： 74）.
The table below is the Five Value Orientations for Analyzing cultural patterns based on Kluckhohn， Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck （Samovar， Porter， and Stefani， 2000： 74）.
The other one is Hofstede’s Value Dimensions. Hofstede has identified five value dimensions that have a significant impact on behavior in all cultures. These dimensions are individualism-collectivism， uncertainty avoidance， power distance， masculinity and femininity and long-term orientation （Samovar， Porter， and Stefani， 2000： 66）.
Hosftede classifies cultures into two groups： “I” or individualist cultures versus “WE” or collectivist cultures. In individualistic cultures， people tend to fulfill their own and their immediate family interest. Individual initiative is valued， and reward for achievement is to individual. This also means that individual should take the complete responsibility for his decisions. While in collectivistic cultures， the individual is only part of the group and the individual must fulfill the interest of the group before fulfilling his own interest. The loyalty to the group and to the head of the group is an essential element of collectivist culture.
Uncertainty avoidance deals with the degree to which members of a culture try to avoid uncertainty.
Power distance is “the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations accept that power is distributed unequally” （as cited in William B. Gudykunst， 2007： 19）.
Masculinity and femininity talk about gender issues at the cultural and individual level.
Long-term orientation is focused on the degree the society embraces long term devotion to traditional or forward thinking values.
In this paper， the data will be analyzed based mainly on these two cultural models to discuss some misperceptions that Chinese people have on American culture.
3.Discussion of the Misperceptions
This part mainly deals with what I have learnt from both my Chinese partners and American partner. A detailed explanation of some misperceptions that my Chinese partners have about American culture is given based on some cultural patterns I have learnt in class.
Misperception 1
One of my Chinese partner said that “it is not good to teach children to be independent from their parents， to support themselves after they have grown up and not to take care of their parents when they are getting old”.
My American partner does not agree with this point. He thinks that parents in America have great influence over their children even after they have grown up. They give advice to their children as a suggestion rather than just telling them what to do.
Cultural Roots
One of the dominant Chinese cultural patterns is collectivism while American is individualism. In a society that value collectivism， there is a distinguish between in-groups and out-groups. People usually depend on their in-groups （relatives， organizations） to look after them， and in exchange for that they believe they own absolute loyalty to the group.
Goleman highlights some of the characteristics of those cultures that value individualism：
People’s personal goals take priority over their allegiance to groups like the family
or the employer. The loyalty of individualists to a given group is very weak； they feel they belong to many groups and are apt to change their membership as it suits them， switching churches， or leaving one employer for another. （as cited in Samovar， Porter， and Stefani， 2000： 67）
Therefore， in a country whose culture focus on collectivism， such as China， children are taught to be loyal or obedient. Loyalty can be extended not only to the immediate family of parents and siblings， but also to grandparents， cousins， aunts， uncles and so on. They can turn to their parents and other relatives to get either emotional or financial support. They possess the idea that they achieve because of their family and for their family， rather than themselves， since they “have a lifelong obligation to their parents， ideally exemplified by an unreserved devotion to please them in every possible way” （as cited in Samovar， Porter， and Stefani； 2000： 108）. In Chinese family， children “learn the social skills necessary for group harmony， family togetherness， interdependence in relationships， respect for their place in the line of generations， and saving face” （as cited in Samovar， Porter， and Stefani； 2000： 110）. Respect for the elderly is also taught in collectivism cultures. The children are responsible for supporting their parents when they are old.
While in a country whose culture foster individualism， such as America， parents usually offer less support to children， and they are told to learn to be self-reliant. They are taught to make their own decisions and take responsibility for them. They have the idea that they achieve because of their ability and initiative. They are expected to move out of the house and establish their own household at a certain age. Old parents usually try to support themselves. When they are too old too look after them， they would go to the elder’s home， instead of moving to live with their grown-up children.
Misperception 2
My Chinese partner said that he does not like the way that foreigners make plans and schedules for the things they are going to do in the following weeks or months. It is necessary for them to put all their heart on what they are doing at the moment.
Cultural Roots
Chinese and Americans have rather different perceptions on time， which often result some misperceptions and misunderstandings in intercultural communication.
According to Kluckhohn， people from different cultures have different senses of time： past-oriented， present-oriented and future-oriented.
In past-oriented cultures， people strongly believe in the historical things. History， established religions and tradition are very important. Therefore， people strongly believe that the past can act as the guide for making decisions.
In present-oriented cultures， people regard the moment as the most significant， because future is unknown and what is real exists in the here and now.
In future-oriented cultures， people emphasize the future and expect it to be nicer than the present. What is coming next hold the most people’s attraction？
Generally speaking， Chinese have a strong preference for past-time orientation while Americans tend to have more interest in future， they are future-oriented. There is a Chinese proverb saying： “Think three times before you act” while in America， “Time is money” and “He who hesitates is lost” can be heard frequently. These are all reflections of how people from different cultures perceive time differently. In a future-oriented society， people tend to make schedules for the following days， weeks， the months carefully， set up timetables and establish precise priorities. In a word， they are constantly planning for the future and they can hardly wait to finish what they are doing so that they can move on to something else. But this does not mean that Americans have no idea about the past and ignore the present. They are planning and scheduling in case they fall behind.
Misperception 3
My Chinese partner said that he had seen from many TV plays that the student in an American classroom do not show any respect to their teachers， they sit randomly， they interrupt the teacher and ask a lot of questions constantly. While in a Chinese classroom， students are very obedient to the classroom rules and teachers.
My American partner show great disagreement toward this point. They sit randomly does not mean that they do not show any respect to their teacher. Maybe they just think that the students and teachers are equal human beings. They teacher will not regard this behaviors as unaccepted in the classroom.
Cultural Roots
Power distance， one of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions， can be applied to explain this phenomenon. It deals with the “extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations accept that power is distributed unequally” （as cited in William B. Gudykunst， 2007： 19）. In a high-power-distance culture， the members of the society are taught that people are not equal in this world and everybody has a rightful place. They believe that power and authority are facts of life and they expect to accept the inequality of status， because they think the supervisors deserve the respect. In a low-power-distance culture， people believe they are the same kind of people as their supervisors and enjoy equal rights. They hold the view that inequality should be minimized and they believe that everyone is close to power and should have access to power.
China is a typical high-power distance culture. In this culture， students view teacher as one who decides， because he possesses the general experience and wisdom. They seldom interrupt the teacher and ask few questions. They show great reverence and respect to their teacher for they believe the teacher is the authority in the classroom and deserve respect and admiration. That is why in a Chinese classroom students usually sit in good order and obey the teacher whatever he is talking. While America is a low-power-distance culture. In this culture， students believe that the teacher is the same kind of people as they are. They have equal right in learning something. So they can interrupt the teacher and ask questions whenever they have difficulty in understanding something. The teacher also interacts with their students and tries to look less powerful than they really are.
4.Recommendations of the Paper
Whenever there are different cultures， there are misperceptions. Through learning the theories of intercultural communication， I gradually have an understanding on how to reduce some of the misperceptions either in communication or in learning a foreign culture. The following are some suggestions on how to reduce misperceptions between people from different cultural background.
Firstly， for effective understanding， it is necessary for people to learn each other’s culture. They should not only learn the cultural knowledge on the surface level， but also the cultural knowledge on the deep level， such as its values， beliefs and thought patterns， for it is likely for people to transfer their own cultural patterns in understanding other culture. To sum up， in understanding other culture， on the one hand， people should learn to know themselves and how they think and believe. On the other hand， it is necessary for them to learn to know others and how they think and believe.
Secondly， it is of great importance for people to respect each other’s culture. When facing difficulties in understanding others’ culture， it is better for people to change their perspectives and learn to see things from the position of others’. Do not be so self-centered and make judgment quickly and easily. It is necessary for people to hold the view that there is no universal standard of good and bad or right and wrong. An aspect of any given culture can be judged only within its own context.
Last but not the least， in understanding a different culture， it is necessary to avoid bias. Some kind of misperceptions can be eliminated only if people can look at another culture without any prejudice. In another word， people should be tolerant and considerate enough to accept other’s culture.
5.Conclusion
The complexity of culture itself brings people a lot of obstacles in understanding each other’s culture. This paper mainly tries to figure out some of the misperceptions that Chinese people have on North America culture and explains in detail from cultural perspective based on some cultural models that I have learnt in classroom. Some suggestions are also provided to reduce the misperceptions in understanding other’s culture， for example， for effective understanding； people should learn and respect each other’s culture.
This paper also has some limitations and needs to be further improved. On the one hand， the participants involved in this paper are only three people， two Chinese and one American. To some degree， their ideas can not represent most of the thinking patterns of these two countries. On the other hand， because of the limitation of my knowledge on intercultural communication theories， the analysis may not be so deep and direct to the point. In the future year’s study， I would try to learn more intercultural communication theories as much as possible， which will be of great help in understanding other’s culture.
Reference：
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