A culture is a collection of believes, habits, living patterns, and behaviors which are held more or less in common by people who occupy particular geographic areas (Xu 40)。 The Americans are proud of its advanced civilization。The scarcity of many resources resulted in the aggressivity of them。 They have to compete with others。 The self-affirmation does not allow the harmony between each other。 Therefore they are often assertive and in pursuit of their own benefits。 From these, the American inpidualism can be understood。

4。Chinese Family Lives Under Collectivism

As we know, Chinese family lives are mostly affected by collectivism。 Obviously, the Chinese family structures, family membership, family activities, family education and their outlook on marriage carry a lot of features of collectivism。来*自-优=尔,论:文+网www.youerw.com

4。1 Chinese family structures

Chinese families are the typical families influenced by collectivism。 In China, the family is the miniature of Chinese society。 Parents’ authority as the master of the family is tantamount to the right of the country’s rulers (Li & Zhang 12)。 Parents spend too much in nurturing the children, so the children should be filial and obey their parents’ requirements。 

Most of the Chinese families are the extended families which are comprised of grandparents, parents and children or even aunts and uncles in some traditional families。 However, modern Chinese households are moving towards being more nuclear。 Nevertheless, and it is still common for the nuclear family to share their home with the grandparents (Jin 84)。 The connection between grandparents and grandchildren is strong。 For most young couples, they leave their children to be raised by grandparents because they are busy working。 Besides, as the family is regarded as the basic cell of a society, the harmony of families is necessary to the stability of the society。 It can be known that the Chinese emphasis on the family harmony is embedded in their mind。