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5. Values are the kernel of culture; cultures can mainly be differentiated with this factor. (Hu Wenzhong, 1999)
2.2 Definition of Privacy
Though there are some records about privacy in history, the notion of privacy did not exist until the modern society, and the views on privacy are also quite different. The concept of privacy begins in the West. It is an inpidual or groups control of the regulatory mechanism of interaction with others, and is a human survival characteristic. Implicit, which means hidden, do not want share inconvenient things; private, which means private affairs, is present in the affairs of private living space. Private living space that exists in secret affairs, activities and related information is privacy. It related to the public living space, the field of public life, public affairs, activities and information in the corresponding. Mr. Wang Liming summarized privacy as “a kind of non public interest, and non independent of group interests, someone does not want to interfere in the personal affairs and fields of others.” Specifically, privacy refers to “personal information, private activities, and private sector.” From the explanation of privacy (freedom from unauthorized intrusion) we can see that the West view the privacy as a human right cannot easily invade.
“Privacy” has a long history in West and is respected by many people. According to Oxford Advanced Learner Dictionary, privacy means “uninterrupted or free from public attention, is a private right to personal freedom” (1174). From this we know that Westerners have the right to their privacy not being disturbed. Privacy is a psychological concept; it is an objective environment for the attitudes, beliefs, and how to understand in the environment view. Privacy reveals a psychological environment. Conventional wisdom is that Eastern cultures (e.g. China) are not stressed inpidual privacy, and inpidual rights than obligation. “Webster Dictionary” is the interpretation of privacy: 1. Private, from the state of public attention of companionship; 2. Independent, to avoid non-consensual. In short, privacy is a part of inpidual independence. Concerned about personal privacy interests have been, and not by other factors or people interfere. Note that state, and Altman thinks privacy is that people or people allowed access to self-selective control mechanisms. Another professor, Weastin, exactly pided privacy into four types: (1) solitude, which means let me alone; (2) intimacy, which means that tell the secret to the intimate friends or family members; (3) anonymity, which means that a person does not want to be recognized by others; (4) self-reserve, which indicates that one has self-discipline to keep calm and far away from disturbance(Yuan Shicong,30 )
In China, there is no equal word like “privacy” in traditional Chinese culture and even no term “privacy” in Chinese Ci Hai (1997 edition) until 1983 the term “privacy” was collected in Modern Chinese Dictionary (2nd edition). According to the dictionary, we know that it means “the personal information that are intended not to tell others and just keep secret.” Chinese people always consider the “privacy” right of inpiduals as self-interest and have pay little attention to private rights. So even now in the most casual of social interactions, friends ask each other’s salary, marriage, family and so on, which most Westerners would not share even with close friends.
2.3 Relationship Between Privacy and Culture
Every society has its own value. Different cultures generate different values. In these different value systems, there are something are the cores of the society, and the key to understand the privacy in different countries. Take Chinese and American for examples, China is a socialist country, the core of the social value system is the collectivism. The member of the society were asked to obey its collective interests and social interests. When necessary, people were asked to sacrifice inpidual rights to protect group or collective interest. Therefore, the core of the collective requires people to help each other and care to each other. In contrast, inpidualism is the foundation of the Western. Since the Renaissance, the western society has been to persue human independence. The pursuit of inpidual freedom and power to achieve personal interests for social is the core of inpidualism, so westerners attach more importance to personal privacy, pay attention to personal space, and are willing to mention their own affairs, personal information, personal area, and so on.