Abstract With the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the USA, exchanges between Chinese and Americans are increasingly frequent. However, due to the cultural differences, there are many problems in cross-cultural communication. Privacy is one of them. So far, many scholars have studied the differences in the Sino-American privacy concepts from different perspectives. Based on their findings, this thesis first classifies the differences in the Sino-American privacy concepts into verbal and nonverbal aspects. In the verbal aspect, the cultural differences about the privacy are presented in the conventional sayings, euphemisms about economic status, old age, marriage, porce and conversation topics. In the nonverbal aspect, the different privacy concepts are displayed concerning the space. Next, the thesis tries to analyze the reasons for these differences in reference to the history of the two countries, and discovers that Chinese’s collectivism and Americans’ inpidualism are the main factors. And earlier economic forms, nation’s institutions and the degree of legal protection are also important factors which can’t be ignored.54413

Keywords: Sino-American privacy concepts; verbal aspect; nonverbal aspect

摘要随着中美两国的建交，两国人民的交往越来越频繁。然而，由于文化的差异，在跨文化交际中经常会出现很多问题。隐私就是其中之一。迄今为止，已有许多学者从不同角度研究了中美隐私观的差异。在他们研究的基础上，本篇论文首先将中美隐私观差异归为语言方面和非语言方面，然后分析了差异的原因。语言方面的差异包括三个方面：传统的谚语；形容经济地位、年老、结婚、离婚等方面的委婉语；交谈的话题。而非语言方面的差异则表现空间方面。接着，文章又尝试着分析两国差异的历史根源，发现价值观差异，即中国的集体主义和美国的个人主义是主要原因。另外，早先经济形态、国家制度以及法律保护程度也是不可忽视的重要因素。

毕业论文关键词：中美隐私观；语言方面；非语言方面

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 1

3. The Differences in Sino-US Concepts of Privacy 3

3.1Verbal Aspect 3

3.2 Nonverbal Aspect 6

4.The Reasons for the Differences in Sino-US Concepts of Privacy 8

4.1Values 8

4.2 Earlier Economic Forms 10

4.3 Nation’s Institutions and the Degree of Legal Protection 10

5. Conclusion 11

Works Cited 13

1. Introduction

Influenced by the development of modern technology and advanced transportation, the world changing, the global village has come into a reality. People in different cultures come across each other more frequently in business, travel, study exchange, etc. It is highly significant for us to cultivate and improve intercultural communication abilities in that being aware of privacy is imperative when the exchange between China and America is more and more frequent. To a certain degree, privacy always affects the communication in direct or indirect ways so that we cannot ignore its significance. To explore the differences of privacy of two countries can help people in two countries to communicate with each other more deeply and to promote international communication. 源'自:吹冰`!论~文'网www.chuibin.com

The concept of privacy was originated from the West. It was a regulatory mechanism used by inpiduals or groups to control the communication with others. It was also an existing characteristic of humans. Privacy covers what areas affect daily communication activities in many ways. Lacking of understanding in this aspect will cause great misunderstanding in the process of communication．This area involves two aspects: first, what aspects and topics are inappropriate on social occasions; second, in non-verbal communication, what behavior violates the rule of privacy (Hou Caihong, 2008: 1).