The Impact of Cross-Cultural Contact on Value and Identity: A Comparative Study of Chinese Students in China and in the U.S.A.

Abstract

This study explores relationships between cultural contact and value change. Surveys were conducted to compare students having cross-cultural contact (Chinese students in the US, N=107) with students without contact (Chinese students in China, N = 185) on value scores. The Chinese Value Survey (CCC, 1987) was used as the instrument for observing value differences between these two samples. Cross-cultural contact was found to be associated with value change among Chinese students. However. changes occurred in opposite directions. Students with contact thought the value of cultural conservation was less important than those without contact. Those staying in the U.S. over two years viewed cultural conservation as less important than those in the U.S. less than two years. Surprisingly, students with contact viewed the values of group integration and selfprotection as more important than students without contact. In-depth interviews (N=25) among Chinese students in the U.S. provided further interpretations, suggesting that cross-cultural contact can result in changes - some values decrease their significance among Chinese students for cultural adjustment while others increase their importance for cultural identity. The world has become a global village in which members of different cultures find themselves face-to-face. Consequently, diverse cultural value systems come into contact. Cultural values have been of lasting interest to scholars in multiple disciplines; however, it is the accelerated globalization that has turned such classic topics as value clash and cultural identity into timely issues. While most cross-cultural studies compared value differences with peoples from distinctive cultures (Chung, Walkey and Bemak 1997; Hofstede 1980; Hui 1990; Hus 1981; Stipek 1998; Ting-Toomey 1988; Triandis, Brislin and Hui 1988), the current study utilized samples from the same cultural tradition but with different interaction contexts; i.e., Chinese students in China and Chinese students in the U.S. There has been an increasing realization that cultural values of international students may experience change from their continuous interaction with the host culture and society (Brislin, 1981; Furnham, 1988; Hull, 1978; Kim and Ruben, 1988; Searle and Ward, 1990). According to these studies, those who have adapted their cultural values to new cultural environments may function better in the host society. Other researchers emphasize the aspect of cultural conflict. They have demonstrated that cultural value differences and conflicts broadly exist among immigrant groups (Adler, 1975; Casimir and Keats, 1996; Gudykunst and Kim, 1984; Triandis, 1977). The complexity of cross-cultural interaction has been especially discussed between eastern and western value systems (Bond 1988; Bond and Hwang, 1986; Church, 1982; Hui, 1990; Hall, 1976; Smith, 1994; Ting-Toomey, 1988; Triandis, Brislin and Hui, 1988). The significant impact of cultural contact on racial and ethnic relations has received continuing attention (Feagin, 1991; Kitano, 1974; Marger, 1994; Thomas and Hughes, 1986; Williams, 1977; Yetman, 1985). Yet many studies have focused on the effects of ethnocentrism and racial discrimination on cultural values and ethnic identity (Chen, 1981; Chen and Yang, 1986; De Vos, 1990; Paige, 1990; Triandis, 1990). The most recent research on acculturation processes contributes greatly to the understanding of Chinese students in western societies, such as Australia (Hird, 1997; Da, 1998), Canada (McCrea et al., 1998), and the U.S. (Ying and Liese, 1994; Zhang and Rentz, 1996). The current research investigates the process of cross-cultural contact and its effects on value change and cultural identity. In this regard, early literature states that an effective intercultural communication depends on the degree of information exchange and mutual understanding between guest and host cultures (Martin, 1984). Through the stress-adaptation-growth process of communication, individuals go beyond the cognitive, affective, and behavioral limits of their original culture and eventually become intercultural (Kim and Ruben, 1988). …