Causal attribution in culture learning: a case of Chinese students in Russia - Дипломная работа

Federal state autonomous educational Institution of tertiary education «National research university higher school of economics «Higher school of economics» Faculty of social sciences Department of psychology Masters program «applied social psychology» Causal attribution in culture learning: a case of Chinese students in Russia Sidyganova Angelina Supervisor PhD, Lecturer Marina V. Kotova Moscow 2017 Abstract communication intercultural training A number of Chinese students coming to Russia is growing rapidly. Many theories argue that Russian and Chinese cultures differ significantly in some dimensions. Such differences might lead to various misunderstandings among sojourners. Culture learning allows sojourners to achieve second-culture competence and avoid cross-cultural confusions and misunderstandings. There is a lack of studies dedicated to Chinese students learning Russian culture. Our study aims to examine attributions of Russian behavior made by Chinese students. The study answers the research question: do Chinese students’ attributions of Russian behavior change during culture learning process? The results show that attributions made by students staying in Russia for 3 months differ significantly from attributions made by students staying in Russia for 7 months. The second group managed to made more isomorphic attributions comparing with the first one. The factors facilitating culture learning and practical implications are discussed. Keywords: culture learning, causal attribution, Russian culture, Chinese culture Table of contents Introduction 1. Theoretical background 1.1 Culture learning 1.2 Causal attribution 1.3 Russian and Chinese cultural norms and behavior 1.4 Family as a value in China and Russia 1.5 Russian and Chinese communication styles 1.6 Differences between Chinese and Russian cultural norms 2. Method 3. Results 4. Discussion Conclusion References Appendix Introduction Russia and China have a long story of relationship and cooperation. In 2001 Vladimir Putin and Jiang Zemin signed “The Convention of Good-Neighbourly Relations and Friendly Cooperation Between the Peoples Republic of China and the Russian Federation” which is supposed to last for twenty years. Strategic partnership between Russia and China in the field of academia leads to increasing numbers of Chinese students who come to study in Russia. According to Areviev (2014), there was around 16000 Chinese students studying in Russia in 2013 and during the next years even more students are expected to come. Instead we are going to examine emic aspects of both Chinese and Russian cultures to define what aspects of Russian culture might seem to be unusual and “strange” for Chinese students. As we mentioned above such “unusual” behavior of Russian people can facilitate formation of attribution processes for Chinese students and our study aims to examine them. Culture of learning in China and Russia Cortazzi and Jin (1997) stated that Chinese and British students perceive student and teacher roles in a different way. In today’s China it is usual that children earn more than their parents which challenge traditional hierarchical structure of families. Parents might lose their authority due to economical reasons. Divorce rates also currently grow in China. More than one million Chinese couples divorce each year. For example, over 100 families in Shanghai split each day in 2005 as they say because of ‘‘personality clashes’’ which marriage face in the city (Faure and Fang, 2008). ‘‘Fewer couples are willing to continue poor-quality marriages, especially when Chinese society has become more open and tolerant to divorcees’’ (Chen, 2006). But even though the number of divorces is growing Chinese overall divorce rates are still lower than in the West (Faure and Fang, 2008) and life-long partnership is still advocated in modern China. However, the present situation doesn’t mean a shift from collectivism to individualism because the group and society still have huge impact on individuals’ lives. It depends on the context if the Chinese can comfortably pay the bill at the restaurant for other person or absolutely refuses to do so (Faure and Fang, 2008). The social judgments still affect people’s behavior in China. Family values in Russian contemporary society significantly differ from China. According to United Nations Statistical Division divorce rates in Russia is 4,2 per 1000 people (in 2005 year) while divorce rate in China is 1,4 per 1000 people (in 2005 year). Family values and traditions are not the same in Russia and China. Russian people are used to divorces while in China family as a life-long partnership is still advocated. That fact might cause difficulties for Chinese students in Russia and misinterpretations of Russian behavior. 1.5 Russian and Chinese communication styles Chinese verbal communication style can be described by Lebedeva’s (2014) classification of verbal communication styles: Indirect (verbal messages that hide a