An Intercultural Investigation On Social Networking: The Status Of Guanxi In China Today

This paper examines the phenomenon of social networks from a cross-cultural perspective. Two research approaches, both etic and emic, were employed to provide a comprehensive picture of different social network patterns in various culture settings. For the etic (universal) approach, social network patterns were investigated from different cultural variability angles in global settings. Guanxi, a unique social practice in Chinese society, was deeply investigated in context (emic) to check its roots and their influence upon Chinese people's social behavior.The main hypothesis of this paper was proposed after the investigation of social networks in different culture settings, i.e., generally speaking, Guanxi in today's China shares some similar characteristic with social networks in the west. In order to see clearly Chinese people's attitude of guanxi, I conducted a survey in Shanghai. The study testified to the prevalence of guanxi in present Chinese society and its strong influence upon people's behavior. The comparison between guanxi and social networks was provided in the conclusion for the purpose of facilitating communication between Chinese people and foreigners.