Research on Different Values of Money Between Chinese & Oversea Students

卫姣

1. Introduction

This research is focused on different values of money between Chinese and oversea students. Specifically， it contains questions on 3 aspects： Attitudes towards money， how does money come and how to use money.

2. The survey

2.1 Subject

Chinese students： 52—Friends in CTGU and other universities （Wuhan， Henan， etc.）， age 20—22.Oversea students： 30—choose oversea students at random.

2.2 Instrument： Questionnaire

One 13-question questionnaire made into both Chinese and English versions.Chinese version is delivered to friends through e-mail；English version is delivered to the oversea students in CTGU in traditional way—paper questionnaire.

2.3 Results & Discussion

2.3.1 Attitudes towards money

We designed 4 questions on this topic， Question1， 2， 3， and 6.Take one question for example： do you agree that money can reflect an individuals capability and status？

Agree disagree neutral

Chinese students 70.1% 9.6% 19.2%

Oversea students 30.03% 37.93% 31.03%

Phenomenon：

In general， Chinese students attach more importance to money， they think that money can reflect ones achievement and social status； while oversea students hold that money is not the only criteria in judge ones achievement.

Discussion：

In Chinese culture， Chinese hold the opinion that money is omnipotent and without it， life， business and so on is uneasy to go.Chinese is hierarchical， money represents ones status and achievement， and money can be used to establish “Chinese guanxi”.

2.3.2 The source of wealth

We designed 3 questions on this topic， Question 5， 8 and 9.Take one question as example： How do you like your wealth come？

From heritage Start from scratch Unexpected windfall

Chinese students 9.6% 84.6% 5.8%

Oversea students 13.79% 65.52% 20.69%

Phenomenon：

Chinese and overseas students both have something in common： it is that they both expect they can get wealth from diligence and starting from scratch. But oversea students have more of the tendency to expect their wealth from heritage and unexpected windfall.

Discussion：

In Chinese culture， diligence is highly spoken of in establishing ones own career and make achievement.

We are both influenced by the western concept to some degree， we prefer to be independent on ourselves rather than depend on parents.

2.3.3 How to spend money

We designed 4 questions on this topic， Question10， 11， 12， and 13.

Take one question for example： how would you like to spend your extra money？

Do charity Set up a company Save

Chinese students 7.7% 30.8% 53.8%

Oversea students 48.32% 6.9% 27.59%

Phenomenon：

As the 4 questions simplify， when Chinese get wealthy， they are apt to either set up companies or save it up， and they seldom have the desire of engaging in charity； while the oversea students would engage more in charities but less in setting up companies.

Discussion：

Chinese do not have much tradition in doing charity work.

Chinese do not believe religion， and we depend more on ourselves but not others.

3. Conclusion

In order to know the different values of money between Chinese and oversea students， especially the attitudes towards money， the source of wealth and concept of consumption， we conduct this research.

Through a questionnaire delivered to 30 overseas students in CTGU and 52 Chinese students in different universities， we find that：

Overall， Chinese students attach more importance to money， they think that money can reflect ones achievement and social status； While overseas students hold that money is not the only criterion in judge ones achievement.

Both Chinese and oversea students expect they can get wealth from diligence and starting from scratch. But oversea students have more of the tendency to expect their wealth from heritage and unexpected windfall.

When Chinese get wealthy， they are apt to either set up companies or save it up， and they seldom have the desire of engaging in charity； while the oversea students would engage more in charities but less in setting up companies.

The reasons for the above phenomena are as follows：

In Chinese culture， Chinese hold the opinion that money is omnipotent and without it， life， business and so on is uneasy to go.

Chinese is hierarchical， money represents ones status and achievement， and money can be used to establish “Chinese guanxi”.

In Chinese culture， diligence is highly spoken of in establishing ones own career and make achievement.

We are both influenced by the western concept to some degree， we prefer to be independent on ourselves than depend on parents.

Chinese do not have much tradition in doing charity work.

Chinese do not believe religion， and we depend more ourselves but not others.

參考文献：

[1]许力生.新编跨文化交际英语教程[M].上海：上海外语教育出版社，2009.