1、本 科 毕 业 论 文Differences in Cultural Values between China and the West and Their Effects on Gift-giving Behaviors中西方文化价值观差异对馈赠行为的影响学 院 ：外国语学院 专 业 班 级 ：英语 083 班 学 生 姓 名 ：王文玲 学 号：080811309 指 导 教 师 ： 王聿良（副教授） 2012 年 6 月AcknowledgementsI would like to take this opportunity to give my sincere acknowledgeme
2、nts to all the teachers who have taught me during the four years of my study. Their excellent teaching has illuminated me and helped me lay a solid foundation for this thesis and my future work.My deepest gratitude goes first and foremost to Professor Wang, my supervisor, for his constant encouragem
3、ent and guidance. He has walked me through all the stages of the writing of this thesis. Without his consistent and illuminating instruction, this thesis could not have reached its present form. Second, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Professor Gong, who led me into the world of tr
4、anslation. I am also greatly indebted to the professors and teachers at the Department of English.Last my thanks would go to my beloved family for their loving considerations and great confidence in me all through these years. I also owe my sincere gratitude to my friends and my fellow classmates wh
5、o gave me their help and time in listening to me and helping me work out my problems during the difficult course of the thesis.毕业论文外文摘要Differences in Cultural Values between China and the West and Their Effects on Gift-giving BehaviorsAbstract: The further global economic integration is often associ
6、ated with cultural diversification. Nowadays Chinas integration with the world has been intensified especially after China became a member of WTO. Meanwhile, there are comprehensive cross-cultural communications between China and Western countries in various fields. In international exchanges, wheth
7、er official or non-governmental exchanges will inevitably have to give gifts or accept gifts which convey the emotion and sincerity of the people .In this case, the cooperation will be strengthened, and friendship developed. Gift giving is a common courtesy observed in many cultures. However, people
8、 of different cultural backgrounds，worldviews and values may inevitably encounter diverse problems and consequently misunderstanding and conflict may arise in cross cultural communicationThe paper based on Hofstedes cultural dimension-individualism and collectivism， aims to illustrate how gift-givin
9、g behaviors works and differs a cross-cultural values；specifically, in the Confucian collectivistic nature of China, and the individualistic nature of the WestKeywords: cultural value; culture difference; gift-giving; individualism; relationship毕业论文中文摘要中西方文化价值观差异对馈赠行为的影响摘 要：当今世界经济一体化程度不断加深，随之而来的是文化的
10、多元化.如今中国与世界各国的交往进入到了一个崭新的阶段，尤其是自从中国加入世贸组织以来。同时，中国与西方在各个领域都进行着广泛的跨文化交际。在国际交往中，无论官方的还是民间的往来，免不了要馈赠或接受礼品，这种活动传递着人们的情感或诚意，使合作得到加强，使友谊得到发展。送礼行为是一种普遍存在的文化现象。然而由于文化差异，不同国家间的礼品馈赠习俗也不尽相同。不了解收受方的文化和习俗的送礼行为会产生误解与争议。本文从传统价值观角度和现代价值观变迁的角度，浅析中西方文化价值观差异对送礼行为产生的重要影响。关键词：文化价值观；文化差异；馈赠；个人主义；关系Contents1 Introduction.1
11、1.1 The significance of the study.11.2 Aims of research.21.3 Framework22 Literature review.22.1 Culture and value.22.2 Hofstedes valued dimensions: individualism and collectivism.32.3 Definition of gift.32.4 What makes a gift 42.5 Why do we give.42.7 How to give a gift.53 Chinese cultural values and
12、 gift giving .63.1 Origin of Chinese cultural values63.1.1 Confucianism63.1.2 Taoism.63.1.3 Buddhism.73.2 Chinese cultural values in modern societies73.2.1 The Chinese concept of “guanxi”.73.2.2 The Chinese concept of “mianzi” 83.2.3 The Chinese concept of”renqing”93.2.4 The interrelationships among
13、 “guanxi”,”mianzi” and “renqing”.93.3 Relationships between Chinese cultural values and gift giving.93.3.1 Chinese “LI” culture and gift giving.93.3.2 “guanxi” “renqing” face and gift giving104 Introductions of western cultural values104.1 Individualism independent self and implication for self cons
14、cious emotion.114.1.1 Individualism.114.1.2 Independent self.114.1.3 Implication for self conscious emotion.114.2 The history of gift giving in the west .134.2.1 Early ages gift giving.134.2.2 Middle Ages gift giving.134.2.3 Modern gift giving.13Conclusion.15Bibliography.16淮海工学院二一二届本科毕业论文 第 1 页 共 15
15、 页Introduction1.1The significance of the studyWith the advancement of economic globalization, the interactions between different cultures have been increasingly intensifiedThe further global economic integration is often associated with cultural diversification. Nowadays Chinas integration with the
16、world has been intensified especially after China became a member of WTO. Meanwhile, there are comprehensive cross-cultural communications between China and West countries in various fields. In international exchanges, whether official or non-governmental exchanges will inevitably have to give gifts
17、 or accept gifts which convey the emotion and sincerity of the people .In this case, the cooperation will be strengthened, and friendship developed. People of different cultural backgrounds，worldviews and values may inevitably encounter diverse problems and consequently misunderstanding and conflict
18、 may arise in cross cultural communicationThis calls for our research into different cultures so that we can find out problem-solving methods and strategies As the core of invisible culture, values are guiding peoples thoughts，behaviors in language and communicationThe nature and structure of values
19、 has become an ever more interesting topic in intercultural communicationGift giving has been a prevalent tradition among most culturesIt is considered a very virtuous and simple act of kindness a medium of personal expression of emotions towards interpersonal relationships With the increase in cros
20、s cultural integration ,it has become very important to understand the gift giving behaviors in different culturesThis thesis studies the influence of cultural values on gift giving behavior. Beatty Kahleand Homers believe that cultural values influence gift giving behavior across cultures .Moreover
21、, sociological and anthropological theory and research have also made it increasingly evident that the understanding of gift-giving behavior requires a sound knowledge of characteristic of various cultural values. As the basic structures of cultural values, individualism and collectivism respectivel
22、y play a pervasive role in the eastern and western world, and are always the theory dimensions for studying the gift giving behavior in the crosscultural communicationExamining gift giving behavior from cultural values perspective can be a guide in the practice in intercultural communication ,and am
23、plify the importance of knowing and acting especially on different contexts For example，what and when a gift is expected，what peoples views from different culture concerning gift giving, and etiquette of gift giving ceremony, and so on. It is also helpful in our usual practice of foreign language le
24、arning and teaching. It can promote learners cross cultural sensitivity and raise their awareness of cultural values so as to monitor and adjust their behavior to cope effectively with those of diverse cultures and develop cross 淮海工学院二一二届本科毕业论文 第 2 页 共 15 页cultural communicative competence eventuall
25、y1.2 Aims of researchThis is an exploratory cross-cultural study. In this study, the first objective of this dissertation is to investigate the difference in cultural value of Chinese and the westerners which provides basis for dissertation. Both the origin and modern shifts of the cultural values w
26、ill be explored specifically. The second objective is to examine the differences in cultural values between China and western countries affect the gift giving behavior. From a sociological perspective, it analyses ever a ideologies which related to the gift giving behavior in different culturesHere
27、，individualism and collectivism are focused on and their influences on gift giving behavior are discussed.1.3 Frame workThere are five chapters in this thesis. The first chapter is a general introduction includes the significance and the aims of the study; the second chapter is literature review. In
28、 this chapter, the previous researches on cultural values and gift giving are reviewed. The concentration of this study will be the second and the third chapter which deeply investigate the relationship between cultural values and gift giving both in China and western countries. In the last chapter,
29、 implication and limitation of the thesis are included. From a cross-cultural view, based on a comparative and analytical method, this thesis reaches a conclusion, under the influence of traditional Confucianism，the Chinese views include guanxi, mianzi ,renqing, etc have a strong influence on their
30、gift-giving behaviors. On the contrary, the western individualism is highly valued. In western cultures, the purpose of gift giving is to reinforce all individual-based self-concept literature review2.1 Culture and valueCulture refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, valu
31、es, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving. Culture is the systems of knowledge shared by a
32、relatively large group of people.Value is thought of as a basic component of culture as we have discussed in the definition of culture besides being considered as a cognitive part. In addition, the founder of cross-cultural communication, Hall holds that culture can be divided into visible one, and
33、value system is the core of invisible culture. He considers the term” culture” in two senses: one refers to the visible civilization such as that manifested in arts, architecture, tools, and other concrete and tangible forms of human creativity and behavior(often called material culture); the other
34、refers to invisible ideology such as belief ,value ,norm and other abstract and intangible forms of human creativity (the non-material culture).”Culture”, in its latte sense, has been targeted by sociologists as 淮海工学院二一二届本科毕业论文 第 3 页 共 15 页an implicit feature of social interaction. Culture is charac
35、terized primarily in terms of norms and values by functionalists. The concept of culture ,for instance, for Parsons (c) beliefs shared with the group rather than beliefs that distinguish self ; and (d) great readiness to cooperate with group members.2.3 Definition of giftGift-giving is defined as th
36、e voluntary transfer from one person to another without compensation. Gift giving is not only an economic transaction, but a process of high-context communication that conveys rich, symbolic meanings and is a medium for social interaction and personal expression. In The American Heritage Dictionary(
37、2003),Gift is defined as: something that is 淮海工学院二一二届本科毕业论文 第 4 页 共 15 页bestowed voluntarily and without compensation Though this is an accurate definition, it is far from a complete picture as gift has complex meanings in our life.2.4 What makes a gift Anything can be a gift in some occasions. For
38、example, if you visit Germany for the first time, you can bring the hostess a bouquet of flowers to show your gallant to the hostess. Then, a bouquet of flower is a gift.Sherry (1983) claims that,“the transformation from resource to gift occurs through the vehicles of social relationships and giving
39、 occasions”. In Sherrys description, the vehicles of transformation can be either a social relationship or the occasion.2.5 Why do we giveIn our daily communication, in general, gift-giving is a power way to express ones emotions, such as congratulation, respect, .friendship, love, thanks, mourning
40、and so on. In cross-culture communication, exchange of gifts is a very powerful way in which people establish bonds and connections. Whats more, it can promote our understanding of our different customs and personal emotions cross language barrier. Hines(2002)argues that another reason why we may gi
41、ve is， ”being generous to others often leads US to be even more generous to ourselves”. This simply means that giving makes US feel good and is what Dilnot(1996)explains as the” double joy”in giving. The gift ought to be that which, when proffered by the giver, induces a double joythat of the receiv
42、er in the object，and that of the giver at the receivers joy. It is this double joy which drives us so hand to find the perfect gift for our friends and family.2.6 Function of gift givingAccording to Scammon et a1(1982)four primary functions of gift-giving can be entitiesOne function is gift-giving a
43、s communication between gift giver and receiverAs gifts are often means of showing respect and honor for the recipient the choice of the right gift is very important for the giver in order to transfer the desired message from the giver to the recipientFurthermore，gifts can be used to communicate how
44、 important somebody is to the giver and the choice of the gift provides information about himIn order to prevent a misunderstanding in the gift giving communication givers are likely to choose gift which are considered to be accepted by the society and are therefore“safe”Another function of gift giv
45、ing is the facilitation of social exchangeThis is particularly relevant on gift giving occasions and often west as a symbol of social supportWhen gift giving is seen as an obligatory reciprocal exchange between two people it is an economic exchangeFinally, gifts are also givenas a mean of socializationIn this context
