中西方人对待隐私差异(英文版)

A comparative study on attitudes toward

privacy in Western and Chinese cultures.

There are great differences between Chinese and western culture,

which leads to their different views on privacy. For thousands of

years, most of Chinese people living in the country and people often

live in the village from generation to generation , so they are very

familiar with and care about each other. It is common for them to

talk about family or personal problems. In addition, Chinese people

always don't agree with "private" and regard individual rights as

private interests. However, medieval agriculture of Western Europea

was developed by the form of manor. The circumstance of closed

and non-interference in each other makes westerners gradually

produced a relatively independent character. So westerners advocate

independence and are not willing to others to interfere in their life.

They think that privacy can't be violated.

The differences between Chinese and western culture are shown in

the following aspects:

（一） The age

In China, it is a very common to ask someone's age. When a

person is told that his appearance looks less than his actual age

(except for children), he would think that this is a kind of praise,

especially for women. In addition, in China, the "old" is a symbol of

experience and knowledge, so the elderly do not reject to expose

their age.

Western society is fiercely competitive society and the old age

means retiring from the stage of social competition. The elderly

always have a sense of independent and self-esteem, so they don't

want to reveal their age. For women, "old" also means lossing charm,

which is a kind of pain.

（二） The income

In China, people like to ask others' wages, especially the ones who

have just found a job after graduating or have been promoted.

Besides, when people have dinner on Spring Festival, we also like to

mention this topic.

In the west, the personal income more or less reflects a person's

ability. For low-income people, in particular, they are not willing to

talk about the income. The rich also regard personal income as their

privacy because of the property security.

（三） The space

Due to historical reasons, Chinese people have always Shared

geographical space with others so that we are accustomed to the

crowd and don't have a strong sense of personal space . Especially in

the countryside, people often get into others' house without the

owner's permission.

Westerners generally have a strong sense of space and personal

privacy. When they don't want to be disturbed, their door is always

closed. If the door open, it means a kind of invitation, then you can

knock gently in order to show respect for the is also a

kind of property which cannot be infringed.

（四） The scope of privacy

The scope of privacy of Chinese is lower than that in the west.

Chinese people seem to have nothing to keep in contact and in the

eyes of Chinese people, the age, income and marital status can be

common topics. If Chinese people meet a friend in the street, it is

natural to ask: "where are you going?" This is just a kind of greeting.

Westerners have a larger scope of privacy. If they are asked

"Where are you going?", he will feel very embarrassed, for they

consider it as their own business. In addition, they often talk about

unimportant things, such as the weather, the film, instead of things

about themselves.

Different nationalities have their own unique cultures. The

culture has a great influence on communication. We should respect

our own culture and at the same time, strengthen the understanding

of the concept of westerners' privacy and strengthen the

understanding of differences between Chinese and western cultural ,

so as to make the communication more smoothly.