Abstract

In the process of globalization, the communication between China and America is more and more frequent. However, owing to the differences in their culture, people have different response when it comes to family and friends. Underpinned by Confucianism, Chinese emphasize on collectivism. However, due to individualism, American pays a lot of attention to individual achievement rather than the whole family’s success. It is necessary to study cultural differences between two countries in intercultural communication. Therefore, this paper focuses on the differences of interpersonal relationship between Chinese and American, which are reflected in a report — China's Old Man in Manhattan. Based on the report, the author will discuss two circles of the interpersonal relationships — family and friends. This paper is composed of three parts. In the first part, the author briefly introduces the stories of "China’s old man in Manhattan". In the second part, by studying the differences between the relationship of parents and children and the different status and roles between families in America and China, the author further discusses the different family relationship of the two countries. In the third part, by comparing different residential styles and different meaning of friendship in China and America, the author analyzes the difference of friendship between Chinese and American. By comparing Chinese and American family and friendship values, the author proposes some suggestions not only to elders and their children in intercultural communication, but also for the communication between friends from the two countries.

Key words：interpersonal relationship; differences; family; friendship   

摘  要

    在全球化的进程中，中美之间的交流越来越频繁。然而，由于两国文化的差异，人们对家人、朋友的反应也不一样。受儒家思想的影响，中国人强调集体主义。然而由于个人主义的影响，美国人大多只关心个人的成就而不是整个家庭的成功。因此在跨文化交流中，了解两个国家的文化差异是必不可少的。这篇论文着眼于报道《中国老人在曼哈顿》中反映出来的中美人际关系的差异。基于这篇报道，作者将讨论中美家庭和朋友两个人际圈的差异。因此论文将从两个部分深入研究中美人际关系差异。论文共分为三个部分。第一部分作者简要介绍了《中国老人在曼哈顿》这篇报道。第二部分作者以中美父母与子女关系的差异和家庭成员在家庭中的地位及角色差异为研究对象，深入讨论了中美家庭中的人际关系差异。第三部分作者从中美不同的居所风格和对友谊的不同理解介绍了中美友谊的差异。通过比较中国和美国的家庭观和友谊观，作者不仅给在跨文化交流中的老人和他们的孩子提出了一些建议，也为两国间的朋友的交流提出了建议。
 
关键字：人际关系；差异；家庭；朋友