Cultural Diversity on Example of Chinese & Russian Families

It would not be an exaggeration to suggest that families that represent different cultural backgrounds will have a considerable number of differences that can be identified in various aspects of their daily life. For the purposes of this paper, a Chinese family, as well as a Russian family, was observed. Different areas of the interaction of the family members were observed.

To begin with, one should point out that “Chinese” and “Russian” are not quite comparable terms to describe the difference between the two. Thus, the first family actually represented Han ethnicity which is the most populous ethnicity in China. Therefore, it would not be completely correct to refer to them as “Chinese” since the latter is a term that also includes other ethnicities. Speaking of the Russian family, it is also essential to point out the ambiguity of the term. It appeared that “Russian” is equally applied to people who are ethnic Russians and those who have Russian citizenship. In the case of the family that was observed, they were ethnic Russians, but did not have the Russian citizenship.

One would make no mistake suggesting the Chinese and the Russian cultures are quite different from each other which would inevitably be reflected in the family. For example, the Chinese family that was observed has several elements of the interior that reminded them of their culture (Vogel, Dux, & Elvin, 2010). In addition to that, they tried to participate in the national holidays whenever they were able to. On the other hand, the Russian family did not show any particular devotion to their culture: they were happy to embrace the American values and treated their Russian heritage as something they should not really focus on (Pauleen, 2006). However, there was one exception: the memory of the World War II was particularly strong in them.

The two families tend to put emphasis on a different set of values. For example, the Chinese family believed that collectivism should be the framework that guides a person in one’s development (Hanson & Lynch, 2013). That is why the parents encouraged their children to follow the rest of the people and try to integrate as much as possible. Contrary to that, the Russians were much more individualist. They have own opinion about everything and were willing to support it regardless of the opposition (Giele & Roopnarine, 2016). That is why the parents often instructed their children to stand their ground no matter what. However, this did not have to result in any conflict: such persistence was only needed when fundamental elements were concerned.

As it has been mentioned before, the Chinese family tried to follow some of the customs: they celebrated the Chinese New Year, had traditional clothing, the parents knew some Chinese. It was clear that the Children were not particularly interested in preserving the customers, but since they had no other choice, they did what they needed to do in order to learn more about their traditions. Speaking of the Russian family, they did not have any particular customers that they observed. The parents never spoke Russian at home, hoping that the children would not develop the Russian accent. The only difference that they feature was that they celebrated the New Year more than Christmas.

Another point that was different in the two families described includes expectations. The Chinese parents pushed their children to study hard so that they could get into a good college and then get a good job. Securing a well-paid as well as respected position was extremely important for them because it would contribute to the prestige of the family. Everyone, including the children, knew it. However, the Russian family was much more lenient in this sense. In spite of the fact that it was expected that the children would go to college, there was less pressure and no emphasis on the prestige of work was made. Education as such as a sufficient accomplishment. So, the children were not pushed by the parents to achieve more than they good.

The patterns of interaction that could be identified in the two families were quite different. In the Chinese family, the father often had the last word with everyone else obeying it. The children did not follow any particular code, but they often tried to be respectful towards their parents, especially when there were other people present. As for the Russian family, it appeared that the mother had equal power or sometimes even more over the family affairs. While the children respected their parents, there was much less tension as well less formal interaction. This did not change even if other people were present around. So, it seems that the interaction in this family was not heavily influenced by the external factors as much.

If one considers the roles of each family member, one will be able to notice the following. In both families, the father was thought to be the primary provider. However, it seemed that in the Chinese family the mother was less expected to work than her counterpart in the Russian family. The children in both families were expected to study, but the Chinese children were expected to excel at their studies while the Russian children were not pushed so hard. Another point that should be mentioned the interaction outside the nuclear family: grandparents were often present in the house of the Chinese family, while it was uncommon for the Russian family.

The issue of communication should also be examined. For example, in the Chinese family, the communication was much less emphatic: strong emotions were not praised and the communication, in general, was quite calm. The parents would sometimes speak Chinese with their friends at home, but other than that the language of the household was English. As for the Russian family, the interaction between the family members was more relaxed and more emphatic: both parents and children would occasionally speak in a louder voice whether because they were angry or because they were happy. In addition to that, the only language used at home was English and the parents were doing their best to get rid of their Russian accent.

Finally, one might compare the two families in terms of problems solving. It appeared that the Chinese family was somewhat authoritarian: the issues were not discussed among the family members, they often were decided by the father and there was not the way to change his opinion afterward. That is why each family member tried to avoid conflict as much as possible. As for the Russians, they were more open for a discussion: any problem would be discussed when the whole family gathered together. The parents did not want to be strict so they would try to minimize overriding the will of the children. Moreover, it appeared that the mother was often in charge of problem-solving.

Having examined all the points that were mentioned in the paragraphs above, one is able to come to the following conclusion: the two families which were discussed in the paragraphs above feature different patterns of interaction which were shaped by their cultural backgrounds. Therefore, some might suggest that the latter has had a significant influence on the former ultimately shaping the life of the family.

References

Gielen, U. P., & Roopnarine, J. L. (2016). Childhood and adolescence: Cross-cultural perspectives and applications. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.

Hanson, M., & Lynch, E. (2013). Understanding Families: Approaches to Diversity, Disability & Risk. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Inc.

Pauleen, D. (2006). Cross-cultural perspectives on knowledge management. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

Vogel, H. U., Dux, G., & Elvin, M. (2010). Concepts of nature: a Chinese-European cross-cultural perspective. Leiden: Brill.

The terms offer and acceptance. (2016, May 17). Retrieved from

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016.

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

freeessays.club (2016) The terms offer and acceptance [Online].
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[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]
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