ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a review of both theoretical and empirical scholarship, including some prior studies of value differences between the American and Chinese cultures. Culture as a meaning system is materialized in patterns of human behavior and social interaction as well as in artifacts and observable rituals. Values are often revealed in the behavioral patterns, community relationships, rituals, and cultural artifacts that make it possible for us to recognize and experience each culture. One important area in which values differ across cultures is that of social relationships. If each culture is distinct in its patterning of values, one might be tempted to identify a set of "core values" for each culture, based on their central importance in each value configuration. Regarding kinship relationships, American culture places much greater emphasis on the nuclear unit consisting of a couple and their immediate children.
