Causal attribution in culture learning: a case of Chinese students in Russia

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Federal state autonomous educational

Institution of tertiary education

«National research university higher school of economics

«Higher school of economics»

Faculty of social sciences

Department of psychology

Master's program «applied social psychology»

Causal attribution in culture learning: a case of Chinese students in Russia

Sidyganova Angelina

Supervisor

PhD, Lecturer

Marina V. Kotova

Moscow 2017



Abstract

communication intercultural training

A number of Chinese students coming to Russia is growing rapidly. Many theories argue that Russian and Chinese cultures differ significantly in some dimensions. Such differences might lead to various misunderstandings among sojourners. Culture learning allows sojourners to achieve second-culture competence and avoid cross-cultural confusions and misunderstandings. There is a lack of studies dedicated to Chinese students learning Russian culture. Our study aims to examine attributions of Russian behavior made by Chinese students. The study answers the research question: do Chinese students' attributions of Russian behavior change during culture learning process? The results show that attributions made by students staying in Russia for 3 months differ significantly from attributions made by students staying in Russia for 7 months. The second group managed to made more isomorphic attributions comparing with the first one. The factors facilitating culture learning and practical implications are discussed.

Keywords: culture learning, causal attribution, Russian culture, Chinese culture

Table of contents

Introduction

1. Theoretical background

1.1 Culture learning

1.2 Causal attribution

1.3 Russian and Chinese cultural norms and behavior

1.4 Family as a value in China and Russia

1.5 Russian and Chinese communication styles

1.6 Differences between Chinese and Russian cultural norms

2. Method

3. Results

4. Discussion

Conclusion

References

Appendix

Introduction

Russia and China have a long story of relationship and cooperation. In 2001 Vladimir Putin and Jiang Zemin signed “The Convention of Good-Neighbourly Relations and Friendly Cooperation Between the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation” which is supposed to last for twenty years. Strategic partnership between Russia and China in the field of academia leads to increasing numbers of Chinese students who come to study in Russia. According to Areviev (2014), there was around 16000 Chinese students studying in Russia in 2013 and during the next years even more students are expected to come.

Chinese students who come to study to Russia find themselves in a new challenging cultural environment. A number of cultural theories (Hofstede, 1980; Triandis, 1990; Schwartz, 1992; Trompenaars, 1993) argue that despite the fact that both Russian and Chinese cultures are collectivistic, they still differ significantly in many dimensions. Such cultural differences lead to misinterpretation of Russian behavior by Chinese students as they use Chinese social norms while living in Russia, which also leads to various confusions and cultural misunderstandings. Learning Russian culture becomes a priority for Chinese students as culture learning plays a major role in acculturation process and psychological well-being of sojourners (Furnham, 2004; Masgoret & Ward, 2006). Culture learning is a complex process which involves learning language, rules and conventions, norms and values in order to achieve second-culture competence (Masgoret & Ward, 2006). Second-culture competence would allow Chinese students to become aware of the differences between Chinese and Russian culture and provide attributions of Russian behavior considering Russian social norms. This work aims to examine attributions which Chinese students make to explain typical behavioral patterns of Russian people. Such attributions form a salient part of a culture learning process as they show if Chinese students understand Russian norms of behavior deeply enough to become competent in Russian culture and, therefore, avoid various misunderstandings in a new cultural environment.

The analysis of previous research on the topic allows us to say that there is a few studies dedicated to Chinese students learning culture of English-speaking countries, mostly the United Kingdom and the USA (Jin & Cortazzi, 2006; Pratt, 1991; Spencer-Oatey & Xiong, 2006). There are also a few Russian studies discussing Chinese students' problems in communication with Russians but most of them only mention a number of discrepancies between Chinese and Russian cultures (Popova & Tang, 2014; Sheng, 2010; Lozovskii & Vinnik, 2014). There are no studies dedicated to Chinese students' attribution of Russian behavior in the light of culture learning theory. To address this gap we will examine causal attributions of Russian behavioral patterns by Chinese students while they learn Russian culture.

Our study answers the following research question: do Chinese students' attributions of Russian behavior change during culture learning process?



1. Theoretical background

1.1 Culture learning

The culture learning theory was developed from Argyle's (1969) work in social psychology where he regarded social interaction as a mutually organized performance requiring social skills and examined behavioral aspects of cross-cultural contacts.

The culture learning theory states that cross-cultural problems are typical for people having lack of competence in a foreign culture which causes various difficulties for them during everyday contacts. If they want to experience successful adaptation they need to learn the culture-specific skills which would help them to communicate in a new cultural environment (Bochner, 1972).

Many scientists who have developed culture learning theory in cross-cultural studies note that specific (emic) aspects of culture are especially important for successful adaptation of sojourners. They stated that differences in communicational styles, social norms, values, rules and other cultural aspects are salient for results of intercultural contacts and its effectiveness (Masgoret & Ward, 2006).

Current culture learning approach has developed into two directions. First direction says about the salience of communication styles in intercultural contacts and describes various ways to achieve effective communication basing on the “social psychology of the intercultural encounter” (Argyle, 1982; Bochner, 1982). Another scientific direction takes a wider theoretical framework of culture learning which includes not only communicational styles but also norms and values focusing on the ability of sojourners to “fit in” in a new cultural environment (Masgoret & Ward, 2006).

Masgoret and Ward (2006) discover a number of cross-cultural differences which may cause various misunderstandings and difficulties during intercultural contacts and affect sociocultural adaptation. They argue this is “what” should be learned by sojourners if they want to adapt in the new cultural environment successfully:

Differences in language

Differences in nonverbal communication

Differences in rules and conventions

Differences in norms and values

According to Masgoret and Ward (2006) there is also another group of factors which influence on the result of sociocultural adaptation and might be used for developing various cultural trainings. These factors affect “how” the process of cultural learning would be going:

Personal factors:

Motivational factors and expectations

Personality and individual differences

Situational factors:

Previous experience and length of residence

Intercultural contact

Cultural distance

The second group of factors which affects the result of culture learning is especially important for our study as they might serve as facilitators of culture learning. The length of residence in Russia and other situational factors might influence Chinese students' attributions of Russian behavior.

The process of culture learning includes not only learning specific skills which allow sojourners to act confidently in a new cultural environment but also understanding and explanation of behavior observed in the host culture. Various cross-cultural trainings were developed (Bhawuk & Brislin, 2000) to help sojourners make attributions of another culture. We are going to consider the concept of causal attribution in culture learning and cross-cultural studies.



1.2 Causal attribution

Theory of causal attribution

The theory of causal attribution emerged from Heider's work (1958) “The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations”. He examined in his work how people try to explain the reasons of behavior they observe. Therefore, causal attribution is the process by which individuals explain the causes of behavior and events. There were two salient aspects of his work which influenced next generations of scientists (Hewstone & Stroebe, 2001). First, Heider divided explanations of behavior provided by observers into two groups: external (such as conditions, luck or various situational difficulties) and internal (personal intentions, motivation etc.). Second, he noticed that observers tend emphasize internal factors and underestimate external factors (which later was named “fundamental attribution error” in social psychology).

Our study examines how Chinese students explain the reasons of Russian people's behavior, i.e. their attributions of Russian behavior.

“Spontaneous” causal attribution

There are some factors which might facilitate attribution process which were examined by Weiner (1986). He analyzed a number of studies dedicated to causal attribution and noticed that attributions are often caused by unexpected events. He argues that there are two factors which serve as causes of “spontaneous” attributions: unexpectedness of events and results (which should contradict previous events).

It is important for our research because Chinese students' attributions should describe Russian behavior which is unusual and unpredicted for them. According to Weiner's theory unexpected behavior of Russians which contradicts Chinese cultural norms should reinforce attribution process for Chinese students.

Isomorphic attributions

The scientific field of cross-cultural communication and psychology has many practical implications which have been used for developing various cross-cultural trainings. One of such trainings combining the concepts of culture learning and causal attribution is known as culture assimilator. Culture assimilators are based on the critical incident technique and isomorphic attributions theory. Triandis (1975) suggested that the majority of problems in intercultural communication occur when participants can't understand each other's behavior and are unable to make correct attributions about the reasons of such behavior. Effective intercultural communication requires isomorphic attributions, i.e. convergent judgments of the reason for a behavior assigning the same cause for other's behavior as they would for themselves (Bochner et al., 2001). Culture assimilator teaches trainees how to make “accurate”, i.e. isomorphic attributions about actions of people from another culture.

In our research we are going to examine if Chinese students' attributions of Russian behavior will be more or less isomorphic depending on their involvement in cultural learning process. Culture learning should facilitate the process of making isomorphic attributions as it makes people being aware of the differences between their own and host culture. However before examining Chinese students' attributions and their culture learning it's important to understand the differences between Russian and Chinese norms and behavior. Analysis of such differences might serve as a theoretical base for critical incidents in empirical part of our study and also would allow us to interpret the results precisely.

1.3 Russian and Chinese cultural norms and behavior

The researchers define two main approaches when they investigate the subject of culture and communication: emic and etic (Gudykunst, 1997). The emic approach is used for describing specific features which can be found only inside of a certain culture and which don't belong to other cultures whereas the etic approach is used for comparison of a number of cultures on certain parameters (for example, power distance, individualism and collectivism, long or short term time orientation etc.).

Etic approach was used by many researchers developing various cultural dimensions (Hofstede, 1980; Triandis, 1990 etc.). We are not going to use these theories as Russian and Chinese cultures are similar in many positions according to these dimensions (for example, both of them are collectivists and have high power distance). Instead we are going to examine emic aspects of both Chinese and Russian cultures to define what aspects of Russian culture might seem to be unusual and “strange” for Chinese students. As we mentioned above such “unusual” behavior of Russian people can facilitate formation of attribution processes for Chinese students and our study aims to examine them.

Culture of learning in China and Russia

Cortazzi and Jin (1997) stated that Chinese and British students perceive student and teacher roles in a different way. Chinese students suggest that a good teacher takes care of students, teaches them with clear guidance and works as a knowledge and moral model for them. Chinese teacher is expected to be not only an expert but also a good and caring person. A good student in China should always listen to teachers, do what they say and never criticize or doubt teacher's words and actions. However a teacher in Britain plays role of facilitator and organizer, his main responsibility is to stimulate creativity and productivity in students. Correspondingly, British students are supposed to express and develop creativity and initiate critical analysis instead of just listening and learning what teachers say. Cortazzi and Jin (1997) argued that educational process would be the most effective in case of “culture synergy” between British teachers and foreign students. “Culture synergy” means mutual efforts from teachers and students to understand and adapt each other's culture.

The role and image of teacher in Russian society changed after the collapse of the USSA. Shipulina (2010) conducted a study examining image of teacher in Soviet and contemporary Russian cinema. She describes 3 stages of teacher's image in Russian history in various movies:

Teacher as a revolutionary fighting for Soviet ideas, an extremely important profession in the young Soviet state (movies produced in 1940-1960's). Their main responsibility was not only to teach children but also to educate illiterate adults.

Teacher as a friend and spiritual mentor with humanistic principles (movies produced in 1970's). They were also showed as real people having problems in their private lives.

Teacher as an unattractive and unsuccessful person, uneducated and having no dignity (movies produced in late 1980's and during post-Soviet era). This role doesn't deserve respect in the modern Russian society.

According to Shipulina (2010) in the modern Russian society the role of teacher tend to be devaluated.

Balezina and Nikonov (2013) examine the phenomenon of corruption in high education in Russia in their study. They describe three corruption practices flourishing in Russian universities: using informal contacts to do something illegally, giving and taking bribes and barter practices. They state that university teachers were deprived of many privileges after the USSR's collapse, teaching became a low-paid job and lost its prestige.

The studies mentioned above show that the role and image of teacher is quite different in Chinese and Russian culture which might cause some difficulties for Chinese students trying to understand Russian culture.

1.4 Family as a value in China and Russia

Family is one of the fundamental units of Chinese society (Tu, 1984). Faure and Fang (2008) made a research of changing values in modern China basing on the broad literature review. They argue that historically family played an extremely important role in Chinese society and it was regarded as the ``walled castle'' in the ``coldly indifferent'' outside world. In ancient China family was challenged to fight with the outside world where others were perceived as strangers.

However according to Faure and Fang (2008), nowadays family values are changing in China due to many reasons including economic ones. In today's China it is usual that children earn more than their parents which challenge traditional hierarchical structure of families. Parents might lose their authority due to economical reasons.

Divorce rates also currently grow in China. More than one million Chinese couples divorce each year. For example, over 100 families in Shanghai split each day in 2005 as they say because of ``personality clashes'' which marriage face in the city (Faure and Fang, 2008). ``Fewer couples are willing to continue poor-quality marriages, especially when Chinese society has become more open and tolerant to divorcees'' (Chen, 2006). But even though the number of divorces is growing Chinese overall divorce rates are still lower than in the West (Faure and Fang, 2008) and life-long partnership is still advocated in modern China.

However, the present situation doesn't mean a shift from collectivism to individualism because the group and society still have huge impact on individuals' lives. It depends on the context if the Chinese can comfortably pay the bill at the restaurant for other person or absolutely refuses to do so (Faure and Fang, 2008). The social judgments still affect people's behavior in China.

Family values in Russian contemporary society significantly differ from China. According to United Nations Statistical Division divorce rates in Russia is 4,2 per 1000 people (in 2005 year) while divorce rate in China is 1,4 per 1000 people (in 2005 year). Ilyinykh (2012) conducted a study about family values of young people in Russia. He states that 76,9% of young girls and 84,2% of young men say that extended family including three generations together prevents them from self-development and provokes conflicts. According to Ilynykh majority of young people (94% and 97% for men and women accordingly) approve of registered marriage but also almost half of them (50% and 53% for men and women accordingly) approve of civil marriage.

Family values and traditions are not the same in Russia and China. Russian people are used to divorces while in China family as a life-long partnership is still advocated. That fact might cause difficulties for Chinese students in Russia and misinterpretations of Russian behavior.

1.5 Russian and Chinese communication styles

Chinese verbal communication style can be described by Lebedeva's (2014) classification of verbal communication styles:

Indirect (verbal messages that hide and suppress speakers' desires, for example, their purposes, expectations and intentions in communication).

Succinct (the use of understatements, pauses, and silences in everyday conversation).

Contextual (the use of verbal means to express the position in community, such as role, status, gender etc.).

Affective (the receiver-oriented language usage).

Nonverbal communication style in China can be described as group-implicit according to the classification by Altman and Gauvain (1981). It means that Chinese people tend to pay attention to social norms and public face while and operate with implicit means of behavior to show relational liking and power distance.

Emic aspects of Chinese and Russian communication styles were explored by many researchers. Gao and colleagues (1996, 1998) examined cultural features related to Chinese Confucian tradition. They defined five characteristics of Chinese communication style (Gao & Ting-Toomey, 1998; Gao et al., 1996): implicit communication (hanxu), listening-centered communication (tinghua), polite communication (keqi), insider-communication (zijiren), and face-directed communication (mianzi).

1. Implicit communication (hanxu)

Hanxi suggests a type of communication (both verbal and nonverbal) which is indirect, discreet, implicit, concealed. According to this principle, one should not express all his intentions and needs directly but to give the listeners space to guess and interpret his intentions. The listener should be able to understand the “unspoken” by himself (Gao & Ting-Toomey, 1998).

2. Listening-centered communication (tinghua )

Tinghua can be interpreted as “listen talks.” In Chinese culture it is important to be an active listener. Speaker is a privileged role in many conditions which usually belongs to the most respected members of society. That is why speaking is associated with authority, wisdom, power, high status and knowledge. This sort of attitude leads to considering listening as the main and salient part of the conversation (Gao & Ting-Toomey, 1998).

3. Polite communication (keqi)

The word keqi can be translated as “behavior of guest” or somebody who behaves in a polite, humble, understanding and nice manner (Yao, 1983). Chinese people behave in accordance with the keqi principle in their daily life. Keqi might be expressed in a different way depending on the communication with in-group or out-group members. Being modest and humble is one of the most important Chinese values which is reflected in keqi principle (Gao &Ting-Toomey, 1998).

4. Insider-communication (zijiren)

In Chinese language zijiren is translated as “insiders” (verusus wairen “outsiders”). For Chinese people it's easy to start and keep conversation with their in-group members whereas they usually avoid communication with out-group members who are perceived as strangers (Gao & Ting-Toomey, 1998). The status of the interlocutor - insider or outsider - is salient in Chinese culture and the language and style of communication depends in that status (Gao et al., 1996).

5. Face-directed communication (mianzi)

Supporting the face (mianzi, lian) is a salient characteristic of Chinese communication style which shows the respect to another person and keeps his or her status and self-esteem (Hu, 1944). Face is related with both personal characteristics of the individual and his or her in-group membership, business and relation with in-group members. Since Chinese culture has relationship orientation and collectivistic values, face is an essential part of Chinese communication style (Gao et al., 1996).

According to Lewis (2006), Chinese communication has the following characteristics:

Hierarchy is important, behavior is according to the rank. During formal meetings they prefer to be formal, they dress according to their status, they sit according to their hierarchy. The senior man must be shown great respect. Subordinates are not allowed to make decisions.

The pace of negotiations is slow. The process of negotiation goes step by step. They dedicate a lot of time just to form and develop relationship with their new partners.

Saving face behavior. Confrontation must be avoided. Politeness with everybody is a must, though they prefer arm's length politeness.

Chinese never say direct “no”, they only hint at difficulties. They are not straight-forward.

Decisions and relationships have long-term orientation. They prioritize mutual trust in the long-term and show reliability.

They express generosity with the guests. Gift-giving is an important feature in social relationships. Gifts are given according to the rank as well.

The Chinese don't believe in absolute, scientific truth, they prefer harmony of Ying and Yang.

They consider themselves extremely experienced, knowledgeable and shrewd.

They don't show anger or upset.

They don't ignore other people in their presence at the meeting.

Modesty is an important value in Chinese culture. They never boast.

Chinese have respect for privacy when possible and maintain a distance of more than one meter in conversation.

Chinese are extremely punctual and avoid of wasting anyone's time.

Russian verbal communication style can be described by Lebedeva's (2014) classification of verbal communication styles:

Direct mostly (verbal messages that express speakers' desires, for example, their purposes, expectations and intentions in communication). Though in formal situations Russians tend to use mostly indirect language.

Exacting style (information is provided in a way which is neither overwhelmed nor lacking, just something that is necessary in a certain situation).

Contextual (the use of verbal means to express the position in community, such as role, status, gender etc.).

Instrumental (the language usage which is sender-oriented).

Nonverbal communication style in Russia according to the classification by Altman and Gauvain (1981) has two contextual characteristics: in formal situations it tend to be group-implicit (expressions of saving face, behavior according to the rang and power distance) and in informal situations it tend to be group-explicit (nonverbal gestures to signal immediacy, potency, and responsiveness).

Zhang (2013) argues there are some characteristics of Russian communication which may cause misunderstandings and conflicts in interaction with Chinese people:

1. Russian are more focused on logic and verbal expression of their ideas while Chinese are more concentrated on intuition, harmony and integrity.

2. Russian culture is more individualistic and, therefore, individual judgment and personal interest predominates there. Whereas Chinese culture is more collectivistic so Chinese people value adaptation to different circumstances and dominance of collective.

According to Lewis (2009), Russian communication style has the following characteristics:

Russians can't accept changes or new ideas easily as they should be approved by authorities.

Russians tend to treat compromising as a weakness and, thus, compromising rarely.

They tend to wait until the problem will be solved by itself or by someone else.

They push forward if the other side retreats.

Communication style is emotional. They like to stress human side: emotions, hopes and aspirations. They like to talk about private life and soul-searching philosophy. They also like express kindness, humanity and sympathy.

Authority and status are important. They respect old people.

Their approach to agreement is conceptual, not step-by-step.

Personal relationships can solve problems. They appreciate personal recommendations instead of official directive.

They prefer long-term relationship, mutually beneficial. They are people-oriented.

They want to preserve their face. They are sensitive to any signs of contempt because they are proud people.

They are not egalitarian, fair and open to straight-forward debate.

When they touch another person it's a sing of confidence.

They rebel in case of too much pressure.

Bergelson (2003) describes politeness related issues of Russian communication style by comparing them with Americans. According to her, Russian communication style has the following characteristics:

They express positive politeness (support of the face).

They express emotions without hesitation.

Their communication style is direct with familiars because it is associated with sincerity.

They use different language styles depending on the type of relationship with a person. They have a lot of linguistic means to express warmth and closeness for people they love.

They can preface corrections with negative remarks.

They can show patronizing attitude.

Friends are considered as intimates.

They don't show politeness to strangers.

Apologizing is the expression of compassion (not taking responsibility) for Russians.

Communication style is not targeted at teaching consensus. Their speech often starts with “no” even when Russians agree with another person.

They give advices instead of giving information they were asked for, especially between equals. This is another example of patronizing attitude.

They don't provide information without additional urging. Even being provided, the information may be inexplicit and incomplete. You have to ask many questions to get the information.

They mistrust of “objective truth”, novelty, preference to old ways of doing things.

They can do several different things at a time which might be regarded as bad listening habits.

1.6 Differences between Chinese and Russian cultural norms

The differences between Russian and Chinese cultural norms and were described above in details. However we would like to compare the main differences in the table below.

Table 1. Differences between Russian and Chinese cultural norms

Cultural norms	China	Russia
Teacher's role in the society	Teacher is a knowledge and moral model, a respected expert and example to follow.	Teacher is an unattractive and unsuccessful person, low-paid and often corrupted.
Family values	Family is a basic unit of society and life-long partnership is still advocated. Divorce rates (1,4 in 2005) are much lower than in Russia.	Young people approve both registered (90%) and civil marriage (50%). Divorce rates are very high (4,2 in 2005).
Communication styles	Indirect, succinct, contextual, affective, face-saving, polite and listener-oriented, not emotional.	Direct, exacting, contextual, instrumental, sender-oriented, expressive and emotional, not compromising.

The theoretical part of our study was dedicated to the concepts of culture learning and causal attribution. We also analyzed the main differences between Russian and Chinese culture norms such as culture of learning, family values and communication styles. The theoretical findings will help us to construct critical incidents for the empirical part of the study and then to analyze and interpret the Chinese students' attributions of Russian people's behavior.



2. Method

Sample

Two groups of Chinese students studying in the university (RANEPA) in Moscow, 10 people in each of them.

One expert in culture assimilator technique and one expert in both Chinese and Russian cultures.

First group were staying in Moscow for 3 months. 6 male and 4 female students, 18-19 years old. They studied Russian language for 3 months and had A2 level of Russian. They arrived to Moscow right after graduating from school in China. This group didn't take part in the first stage of the study (selection of conflict situations), they only made attributions for critical incidents (the third stage).

Second group were staying in Moscow for 7 months. 1 male and 9 female students, 20-23 years old. They studied Russian language for 2 years in China and 7 months in Russia, and had B1 level of Russian. They arrived to Moscow after completing 2 years of the university in China. They also studied Russian history and culture in China before arrival to Moscow. This group participated in the first (selection of conflict situations) and the third (collection of attributions) stages of the study.

Measures

The study was conducted using culture assimilator technique as it is a very convenient way to collect attributions of behavior observed in a foreign culture.

According to Bhawuk (2001), culture assimilator is the collection of real-life scenarios describing critical incidents (puzzling cross-cultural interactions) and explanation for avoiding misunderstandings.

Culture assimilator consists of critical incidents which are short stories about some cases of misunderstanding or conflict situations occurred in intercultural communication and caused by cultural differences (Wight, 1995). Since critical incidents are caused by differences between cultures, finding such differences would help in developing a number of critical incidents for a culture assimilator. Flanagan (1954) says that critical incidents should be easy to understand and provide full information about intercultural misunderstanding. In order to meet such requirements, culture assimilators should contain the following issues: (1) interpersonal attitudes which demonstrate how different cultures are from each other; (2) the cultural norms of the home culture; (3) the cultural values which contradict with each other; and (4) a number of settings and social contexts that people find themselves in the real life, such as school, work, shops etc. (Fiedler et al., 1971).

According to Bhawuk and Brislin (2000), the culture-specific assimilators found to be effective for sojourners in many situations: different cultures, various lengths of staying in a foreign country, types of studies conducted (laboratory and field studies, different groups of population (age, gender, nations) etc. A number of studies proved effectiveness of this method (Bhawuk, 1998; Harrison, 1992; Landis, Brislin, & Hulgus, 1985).

Procedure

We used three stages of a culture assimilator technique out of five. The last two stages were not needed because we didn't intend to develop a culture assimilator. According to Stefanenko (2013) those three stages are:

Selection of conflict situations.

This stage is dedicated to the literature analysis and pre-test study which help to reveal the most important differences between cultures. Mutual stereotypes, different role expectations, rituals and superstitions, nonverbal behavior were taken into consideration. Potential situations which are frequent, conflict for all the participants and providing information about foreign culture. On this stage we used the method of critical incidents in the written form so participants could have enough time to remember confusing situations. Also information was collected anonymously so participants could write the most sensitive topics and situations. On this stage we gave questionnaires to participants with questions according with 9 topics from Brislin's general culture assimilator (1986) which made process of recalling difficult situations easier for participants. Only 7 months group participated in this stage as they were more experienced in Russian culture and could provided more information.

Construction of critical incidents.

This stage aims to identify all the useful information collected on the first stage and receive expert's assessment of potential critical incidents. Experts who had knowledge in constructing critical incidents and experience in both Chinese and Russian cultures assessed information provided by students and developed 6 critical incidents. While developing critical incidents experts also took into consideration differences between Chinese and Russian cultures found in the scientific literature. As a result of this stage 6 critical incidents imitating real-life situations with real characters were developed.

Collection of attributions.

On this stage critical incidents were given to both groups of Chinese students so they could make various interpretations of characters' behavior. Critical incidents for 3 months group were written in Chinese language but they were asked to answer in Russian. They had enough time answering questionnaires at home and could use dictionaries. 7 months group were given questionnaires in Russian and also provided answers in Russian language as their command of Russian was quite good.

Both groups of students provided their attributions of Russian behavior in written form in Russian language.

The last stage of our study was not a part of a culture assimilator technique. This stage included comparing and analyzing attributions provided by 3 months and 7 months groups of students. The implications which are useful for cross-cultural trainings development were made and directions for the future research discussed.



3. Results

Critical incident 1

Chinese student Zin Chzhichao and Russian student Sasha study at Moscow State University and they are old friends. They often meet and play computer games. Zin Chzhichao is a very hardworking student, he studies a lot and gets good grades and Sasha likes walking and drinking bear with his friends. Before chemistry exam Sasha said to Zin Chzhichao: “I'm absolutely not ready for the exam, I don't know anything!”. Zin Chzhichao thought with a sadness that Sasha wouldn't pass the exam and would have problems. When they met after the exam Zin Chzhichao asked Sasha: “How was your exam?”. Sasha answered happily: “I passed! Got the excellent grade! It was just 200 dollars!”.

How could you explain Sasha's behavior?

Table 2. Critical incident 1 “The bribe at the university”

3 months group's attributions	7 months group's attributions
I think Sasha is dishonest. Parents and teachers teach us to be honest in our childhood. You think that in China students know only how to study and no other joy. Sasha shouldn't do like this. It is bad for his future. It is also unfair to other students. I think Sahsa used a bad method for his exam. That behavior is based on luck and it will cause difficulties for him in the future. It also can do harm other people. I think Sasha behaved dishonest. It was bad, he was conceited. He didn't make a lot of effort. It seems somebody helped him. His behavior is bad. You can use money to solve many things but not grades. I don't agree with such a behavior. It is unfair not to take exam. Sooner or later the truth will come out. Studying has a practical purpose otherwise the student can cheat only himself! Such behavior is not right. He doesn't have any achievements. He wasted his money. This behavior is not right. I think he has to study. It is bad because it was not his efforts. I think this is bad.	I think that Sasha misbehaved. This is cheating. He doesn't appreciate knowledge and doesn't study. Too much entertainment cause damage his health and soul. Sasha was cheating at the exam. This is wrong. Actually such a behavior has no sense. It is done in vain. I think that this is not Sasha's problem but a problem of educational system. Honestly speaking, I don't like what he's done. I can't deny that money is related with talent. He's family doing well. But I believe that only when we work hard we could have an opportunity to improve our status. If he can receive everything without work he wouldn't know a feeling of happiness when you achieve something. But this is his choice. I can't say if it's right or wrong. This is just what he wants. Maybe there is no such a system of management and punishment in Russia as in China. Once I was told that cheating in Russia is not that serious. But if you behave like this in China you will not get your diploma. That's why I think that Russian students approve Sasha's behavior. Besides, there is a big difference between Russian and Chinese educational systems. When we study in school our grades depend only on the final exams. And such exams are written always, not oral. Most part of the written exam is grammar, vocabulary etc. Even at the university the system is the same. And there are oral exams in Russia that's why rules are not so strict for written exams. Obviously Sasha was cheating, he bought the answers. Probably. There's nothing new for me. Maybe he thought he's at the MSU already so he doesn't need to study and he's surrounded by such behavior. Chzi Chao, don't be afraid, Russian students already are used to buy answers if they are not ready for exams. Such a behavior became an unwritten rule for them. Sasha found somebody who knows the exam answers and gave him money to get the answers. Even though it is forbidden such things still exist. Obviously Sasha gave a bribe to the teacher. I don't like such a behavior. Sasha is absolutely not ready for the exam and didn't know anything but he passed the exam and got the excellent grade. There are no equal rights for other hardworking students. Chinese think getting benefits without working is unethical behavior. We admire people who get good results through their labor. Surely it's bad that he gave money to his teacher to get good grades. But I heard that it happens often in Russia. Students like Sasha don't treat their studies seriously. This behavior is dishonest and unfair. It seems this is normal behavior in Russia: giving money to a teacher and getting a good grade. But this is unethical and unfair. You shouldn't cheat. It's unfair for other students. If you like only having fun and drinking bear you wouldn't pass exams. You need responsible society. This is more important than passing exams.



Critical incident 2

Chinese student Chan Lin visited her Russian friend Masha. They were drinking tea together, eating pies and watching TV. There was news on TV. TV host said: “A famous politician Vladimir Kurpatov divorced his wife Olga. His new girlfriend is a young top-model Natasha Zakharova. They say, Kurpatov was dating Natasha for two years while being married with Olga. Now Vladimir and Natasha are happy together”. Chan Lin was surprised and said: “Oh, it's terrible! Poor Olga! I think it is the end of Kurpatov's career. What was he thinking about?”. Masha laughed: “Not at all! His cheating on Olga will not influence his career in politics”.

How would you explain why Masha thinks so?

Table 3. Critical incident 2 “The politician cheating on his wife”

3 months group's attributions	7 months group's attributions
I think it will not influence his career. But in my heart I don't like this person. His character has problems. Divorce is normal, personal feelings will not influence politics. I think this idea is absurd. I think as Masha. I think that Masha thinks love and career are independent from each other. Different people have different opinions. I think Masha's opinion is too simple. Cultural traditions are different. There are differences in political systems. Russians pay more attention to their personal freedom. Chinese and Russian concepts of love don't differ. I don't understand why there's no affect. In China it is very important. Sorry, I don't know.	Now political scandals are usual. Politicians serve the nation. If he has excellent capabilities he can have political achievements. His scandal shows only his attitude to women but not his talents which are more important for his career. It happens often in Russia and cheating on a spouse is not important in politics. Actually moral doesn't exist in politics. Maybe Masha thinks that love and work are different things and there's no connection between them. Kurpatov cheated on his wife. Such cheating proves he is not a good husband. But it doesn't mean he's also a bad worker. That's why Masha thinks his cheating will not influence his career. But if it happens in China the result will be different. We think that if somebody cheated on their spouse such a person can't get any respect. That's why such a cheating will necessarily influence person's career. Key factors in politics are status and wealth but not character of a person or their marriage. It's normal in many countries. I think Russians are more open than Chinese. Russian culture is influenced by not only Eastern but also Western culture as well. That's why there is an opinion that cheating happens often which is popular. And they think private life is not related with career. There were many great writers and artists in Russian history who were eccentric but nevertheless they became famous because of their talent. It's vice versa in China. In ancient times if woman cheated on his husband she were killed. But it didn't work for men. Nowadays as equal rights for men and women are going to be widespread, cheating is a serious problem especially when men cheat on their wives. I think she told the truth. Because in Russia people are not so surprised if they find out about others' cheating. She thinks work is work and family is family. His cheating is just a mistake in his private life. Or maybe she thinks that the politician is always so dirty that he never had any sense of shame. I think that in Europe, in the West private life is not so related with quality of people. But in China what people do is important because other people would judge you. Cheating in Russia is not so serious as in China. You just have another comprehension of cheating. Chinese believe that is a person is dishonest in his life he is also dishonest in his work. Life and work are always coincided. And Russians think that they are totally different. I personally think it's wrong. Since Masha doesn't think that his private life is related with his career achievements she thinks cheating or divorce is normal.

Critical incident 3

Chinese student Tzian Lay visited his Russian friend Victor. Victor lives with his parents and younger brother Ivan who study at school in the 9th grade. At night Victor's family and Tzian Lay had a dinner together. Ivan said to his parents that tomorrow he would like to visit his school friend and stay for a night at his place. Parents agreed peacefully. Tzian Lay was surprised.

What do you think, why Ivan's parents behaved like that?



Table 4. Critical incident 3 “Staying at the friend's place”

3 months group's attributions	7 months group's attributions
I think he is not Chinese, he is from Korea. It is normal. I don't know why you think so. It is safe. Don't worry, children grown up, they should have their own life. Ivan wanted to stay at his friend's place because they are friends. It is beneficial for him. I think parents think their son needs private time and Ivan already asked them. I don't understand why Chinese was surprised. Ivan behaved typically like in China. Do you think China is still feudal and conservative? Of course, not. This is unreal situation. It is normal behavior in China, I can't evaluate his parents' behavior. Parents want their children to live independently. Russian families have a lot of children. I don't know. Because this is his friend. I think this is normal.	Ivan has fun and safe in his friend's house. It doesn't mean anything special. Because they thought that their son is safe in his friend's house. I think it's normal. Parents have to give freedom to their children if they know how to behave when they visit friends. It's good for children's growth. I think Ivan's parent thought that staying at his friend's is normal. First, he is grown up so they thought he knows how to behave and protect himself. Second, they believe that independence is important for children's growth. They don't control their children so strictly. I think in Russia parents allow their children to do everything which is reasonable and safe. They think that is Ivan's choice and he will be happy and it's beneficial for him. In Russia children grow in a free environment. Parents don't make rules for children and they don't evaluate their school grades. When children are small parents take them to parks and have fun together. They want their children to be independent. That's why they rarely forbid anything. For example, in Russia many young men and women smoke. It's impossible in China. Because in Russia children stay for a night at their friends' and it's normal. And Ivan knows how to care about himself. Or maybe parents think that it's not good and they don't agree in their heart but they couldn't say “no” and have a fight in front of their guest. So such a situation make them agree. Russian culture differs from Chinese culture. In the West people usually prefer individualism and in the East collectivism. I think Russian culture is more similar to the West. That's why I think parent teach their children to be independent and give freedom to children. Children can decide what to do. It's nothing special. We also have it. Spending a night in your friend's house is normal. I don't understand why Zian Lay is surprised. I think if a son has a good friend it's normal to stay for a night at his place.

Critical incident 4

Chinese student Li Singtong recently came to Moscow to study at Moscow State University. On the first day he met two nice guys, Sasha and Victor, at her physics lecture. She was very happy that she got new Russian friends. On the next day, when she was walking down the corridor at the university, she saw Sasha and Victor. She was glad and she said: “Hi Sasha and Victor!”. Young men also said “hi” to her and each of them hugged her. Li Singtong was a bit embarrassed and scared.

How would you explain Sasha's and Victor's behavior?

Table 5. Critical incident 4 “Hugging in greetings”

3 months group's attributions	7 months group's attributions
Before, in old China people would be surprised. But now it's normal. You think that China remained in the last century but it's not like that. China is very developed. We have developed internet, you can buy all the things in the world, you can eat tasty food. Everything is convenient in your life in China. This is a foreign culture. We should respect and accept it in Russia. Every country if different. We should adapt to greetings. I think it reflects that they like her and want to be friends with her. This is really normal! Chinese girls would never think so. It is normal behavior China, like in Russia. Two different cultures. This is Russian etiquette. National cultures are different. I can understand. It is normal, Russian say “hi” like this. They like Li Singtong.	Chinese students are not used to hug each other, especially men and women. They like to wave or to shake hands. These are just different ways of greetings. You have to accustom yourself to culture of a certain country. They are friendly and nice people. They just really like Lee Xingtong. It seems they also were happy to have a Chinese friend. This is just a kind behavior and a greeting. They just wanted to say “hi” and no other meaning. Nothing is bad. In Russia it's normal to hag each other during greetings. That's another way of greeting. Russians think that you are close enough and they are happy to meet you. Then they are very warm-hearted. This is just a ceremony for greeting. Russians are more open and lively, like in the West. This is just a tradition of politeness and friendship. Sometimes girls also kiss each other. But when I'm in Russia my friends know that I'm a Chinese girl and they don't hug me because they are afraid to hurt my feelings. But actually we don't think it's bad. I think the problem is that Lee Xingtong recently has arrived to Russia. ...

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