Psychological and Cultural Analysis of Attitude to Entrepreneurship in Russia and China

Abstract

The article considers the attitude to entrepreneurial activity and entrepreneurs as a social group in society, which is one of the factors of formation of economic self-determination of entrepreneurs at the present time, from the position of interdisciplinary approach in the context of historical, cultural, psychological analyses. The values of Chinese and Russian business culture were influenced by traditional religious attitudes in these countries. Theoretical analysis showed that in Chinese culture the attitude to entrepreneurship was more stable and positive, the basis of entrepreneurship is rationality, pragmatism, compliance with social hierarchy. Incoherent images are rather inherent for the Russian culture; thus, the stereotype of the entrepreneur was endowed with negative qualities, both in pre-revolutionary times, and in the Soviet period, changes towards positive side emerged only in the 2000s. The article summarizes the empirical data on the prevailing value judgments regarding such economic categories as wealth, poverty, money, as well as the formed stereotypical images of the entrepreneur. According to Russian respondents, a positive and rational attitude to money dominates, but along with positive associations, the negative ones are vividly expressed, such as: dependence, cynicism, conflict, hopelessness, retrenchment, need, quarrels, crisis, etc. From the Chinese respondents’ point of view, money and wealth are values, on which status and credibility depend, and are associated with nobility and humanity. According to Russian and Chinese respondents, the stereotype of the mo­dern entrepreneur is characterized by the following qualities: respectful for people, communicative, cooperative, critical thinking, selective, rather independent, serious, intelligent.