Ti Wu Peng

Research Proposal

Applicant’s Name: Wu Peng School of Journalism and Communication; Room 828, Unit 4, 178th Beiyuan Road, Beijing 100080; P.R.China. Tel. No. 0086 135-8197-2704 E-mail: [email protected]

Proposed Topic/Title of Research:

American Soaps and the Shifts of Chinese Culture Patterns in Intercultural Communication

Nov. 2007

CONTENTS Introduction

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Literature Review

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Culture, Culture Values and Cultural Patterns

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Dominant American Cultural Patterns and Dominant Chinese 6 Cultural Patterns American Soap Operas and Dominant American Cultural Patterns

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Intercultural communication and Cultural Imperialism

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Methodology

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Research Questions and Hypotheses

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Test and Measures

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Research Design and Sampling

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Data Analysis

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Test of Homogeneity in Solomon 4-group Design

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Independent-sample T-test

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Paired-sample T-test

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Means Analysis with ANOVA Test

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Reliability and Validity Analysis

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Reliability Analysis

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Validity Analysis

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Unstructured Interview

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References

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Appendix 1

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Appendix 2

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Appendix 3

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Appendix 4

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Introduction American soap operas were quite a hit to Chinese audiences last year. Prison Break, each episode of which was downloaded 2 million times every time it appeared on Internet, is a convincing example. The prevalence of American soap operas might indicate that a peer-to-peer (or "P2P") computer network will bring a significant change in the consumption of entertainment products among Chinese net people. In fact, the first media that introduces American soap operas to China was not Internet but television. Band of Brothers, which is quite hot in the States, came to China in 2003; however, the response was not as good as it expected. The 65-time Emmy winner, Everybody Loves Raymond, was once on the screen of CCTV-8 (China Central TV-Channel 8), but soon faced its mortality due to the low ratings; another show, Desperate Housewives, still could not escape the same destiny. In the same year; BTV (Beijing TV) imported the 24, which created astonishing high ratings in US; nevertheless, the Chinese television audiences did not show as great zeal as those in other parts of the world. (Cheng Yun, 2007) Though the American soap operas met their Waterloo on television, they brought about a big upswing on Internet later. Chinese net people hold an unprecedented enthusiasm for these soaps and such ardor gradually heating up from last year and up to its peak when Prison Break closed its first season. Furthermore, the American soap fans in China are more and more getting used to watch the operas simultaneously with their American counterparts. Take Prison Break as an example again; every new episode is on at U.S. time 20:00 every Tuesday; when is 8:00, Wednesday in Beijing. Then, 6 o’ clock in the afternoon, only 10 hours later; the Chinese audiences could easily find the complete episode with Chinese subtitles embedded in on Internet. Such quick moves attribute to the work of a mysterious net organization: the Subtitles Group. (Chen S. & Liu Y., 2006) Watching American soaps more and more evolves into a fashion among Chinese young audiences and many people are aware of the mainstream American values infesting in the soaps. Since such social values vary greatly from the Chinese ones; thus I concern whether the challenges and impacts may deviate an individual from his original value systems. I scheme out this research in purposes of confirming the above concern and finding out further in which aspects of value system and to what extent do American soaps function? In fact, my concern is far from new; it has been firstly brought out in the studies of cultural imperialism begun at thirties last century. In those studies, American soap operas were considered as the vectors of the American cultural values, especially after the soap Dallas made a big stir around the world in 1960s and 1970s. Some Latin and European scientists took it as a cultural invasion and held strongly negative attitudes toward such ways of cultural output. They discoursed in their studies that not only the audiences’ original values, but their behaviors had already been altered; they consequently appealed to the governments of other countries for a boycott of the

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American cultural products. (Dorfman & Mattelart) Like Dorfman and Mattelart, the above Latin and European scientists are mostly cultural critics and they conduct their research primarily by analyzing discourses and contents of media programming in developing countries; therefore, their judgments and predictions are lacking in the empirical basis. Unlike those cultural critics, some psychologists in the 1970s doubted the overwhelming effects of outputting cultural products; they are Ang, Liebes, Katz and Tomlison. They claimed that the previous studies of cultural imperialism exaggerated the impact. In their studies, the audiences of the input countries were not as vulnerable as they thought; and more often than not, they preferred to interpret the dramas and soaps in their own ways. However, their research methods still do not favor empirical measurements and statistical analysis but the unstructured interviews. Livingston A. White remarks the approaches of Liebes and Katz’s study “cross cultural reception analyses, primarily based on in-depth interviews and discourse analyses, emphasizing the importance of context, a multi-faceted condition that influences how viewers react to and derive meaning from television program messages. (White, 2001) Up to now, the quantitative methods in the study of cultural imperialism is rare, but some cross-cultural effects researchers like Hilary Brown are a limited number of exceptions. Hilary’s study (1995) “American media impact on Jamaican youth” is “stressing external validity through the use of large random samples, rather than a ‘thick description’ of the phenomenon under study.” (White, 2001) Therefore, comparably speaking, statistical methods are not quite commonly adopted in intercultural studies; the empirical methods like value tests and attitude surveys are still standing far away from the field. On the other hand, the measurement of values has already been put into practice by many researchers; such as Rokeach, who is thought to be the earliest; Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck, whose value scales were considered to be having high reliability and validity; and so on. Hofstede, a psychologist from Netherlands, later in 1980 conducted his classic study about the variations of values in 50 countries; and Michael Harris Bond, a professor from Hong Kong University, supplemented Hofstede’s study by adding the orientation of Confucian dynamism, which eliminates the previous western bias, to the study. My study adopts the frame which was created by Hofstede and complemented by Bond. In summary, the previous studies of intercultural communication lack of adopting the quantitative methods; and researchers measuring cultural values seldom step in the field of intercultural communication study. Combing with the above two, my study tries to find out how and to what extent does the American soaps affect people’s cultural patterns with a method of measuring people’s values. What is more, either media scholars or psychologists, who cast their concentrations on cultural imperialism, confine their spectrums to traditional medium, such as newspaper and

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television; whereas, the new media, Internet, is overlooked by most of the researchers. This study brings a new spectrum that, the effects of cultural products transmitted via Internet on the audiences, to the study of intercultural communication.

Literature Review Ⅰ Culture, Culture Values & Cultural Patterns There are different views and focuses on the understanding of term “culture”. “As early as 1952, Kroeber & Kluckhohn (1952) listed 164 definitions of ‘culture’ that they found in the anthropology literature” and “each of these definitions highlights different aspects of culture, and many of the definitions even conflict with each other.” (Hall B., 2005, p.3) What we are concerning in this study is the communication among different cultural groups; hence, we more concentrate on the definitions of “culture” with the interactions between culture and communication. Hall E. (1977, p.14) once suggested that “Culture is communication and communication is culture”, which means people acquire information through communication and such information inevitably contain one’s beliefs, understandings, opinions and thinking. In Marsella’s (1994) view, “Culture is shared learned behavior which is transmitted from one generation to another for purposes of promoting individual and social survival, adaptation, and growth and development. Culture has both external (e.g., artifacts, roles, institutions) and internal representations (e.g., values, attitudes, beliefs, cognitive/affective/sensory styles, consciousness patterns and epistemologies).” According to the above definitions, we can clearly conclude that one’s cultural identity, which is obtained through communicating with different people, closely relates to the circumstances he lives in and it will affect one’s view of nature and society. In spite of the various definitions of culture, most people reach a consensus on the functions of culture. “The influence of culture becomes habitual and subconscious and makes life easier” (Shapiro, 1965, p.21) Triandis (2000) notes that culture “functions to improve the adaptation of members of the culture to a particular ecology, and it includes the knowledge that people need to have in order to function effectively in their social environment.” Referring to Marsella’s definition of culture, there are varieties of culture’s internal representations, but the values is the fundamental part. “Values are shared ideas about what is true, right, and beautiful that underlines cultural patterns and guide society in response to the physical and social environment.” (Nanda & Warms, 1998, p.3) Albert (1968) also highlights the significance of values when he notes that “a value system represents what is expected or hoped for, required or forbidden. It is not a report of actual conduct but is the system of criteria by which conduct is judged and sanctions applied.” Each individual has a set of their own values; some of the values are pervasive in

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the whole society and they are called as “culture values”. “Values generally are normative and evaluative in that they inform a member of a culture what is good and bad, and right and wrong. Culture values define what is worthwhile to die for, what is worth protecting, what frightens people, and what are proper subjects to study and what deserve ridicule.” (Samovar & Porter, 2004, p.49) Indisputably, every person in the society is heterogeneous, thus some of their values are unique. “The value of the culture may not be the value of all individuals within the culture.” (Samovar & Porter, 2004, p.50) However, we can not deny that most of the members within a certain culture still share some kinds of values together, and these values more often than not are the mainstream values, rather than the fringe and non-mainstream ones, of the society. In terms of this study, what we are focusing on is undoubtedly the dominant cultural values of a country. Samovar & Porter (2004, p.50) once defined cultural patterns as “a system of beliefs and values that work in combination to provide a coherent, if not always consistent, model for perceiving the world.” Similarly, even in the same culture system, different people have their unique cultural patterns. Hence, “common cultural patterns that could be said to hold for the whole country must be limited to the dominant culture in each country.” (Samovar & Porter, 2004, p.51) Cultural patterns are changing, even though the deep structure of a culture resists such changes. “Cultures change and therefore so do the values of the culture.” (Samovar & Porter, 2004, p.51) Samovar & Porter (2004, p.51) take “women’s movement” as an example; American citizens were beginning to touch the notion of women’s rights during the last twenty years in nineteenth century, and such notions has greatly altered social organizations and some value systems in the United States. Even the dominant culture values in American society gained some obvious variations. Not only within a culture system does a cultural pattern change, it may also change when it considerably encounters and influences by another culture pattern. “People put a great deal of time and effort into becoming well-socialized members of their own culture. They develop a worldview that makes sense to them. When they discover that members of other cultures have a different view, some of their fundamental assumptions about life are challenged.” (Brislin, 1999, p.37) On the grounds of the previous theories; influenced by new culture values, the stereotyped one will more or less developed some changes thereby. Moreover, the greater the old and the new value systems vary, the easier such changes may occur. Since the Chinese and American culture values are poles asunder, thus we can assume that one value system will be altered if it is perennially impacted by the other one. As Brislin (1999, p.39-43) notes, the changes mentioned above may occur in three perspectives, people’s thinking, emotions and behaviors. “The changes in people’s thinking include the willingness to entertain more complex viewpoints, the rejection of stereotypes, and the ability to understand problematic encounters in a

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manner similar to individuals in other culture. When encountering difficulties in other cultures they are unprepared for, they are willing to suspend their judgment and to await further information” Compared with the changes in thinking and emotions, which are often invisible to observers; the changes in behaviors are visible. People are at “greater ease when interacting with culturally diverse others.” (Brislin, 1999, p.44) Ⅱ Dominant American Cultural Patterns and Dominant Chinese Cultural Patterns We can not clarify all the cultural patterns in a certain cultural system due to the complexity and diversity of themselves; thus, researchers can only contrast the dominant cultural patterns in a comparative study. Some of the researchers use the classification as their method to categorize the similar cultural patterns in different culture systems and make them the research targets. Samovar & Porter (2004, p.58) summarize the current classifications in the research field: “The first classification, developed by Hofstede, identifies five value dimensions (individualism & collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, power distance, masculinity & femininity, long-term orientation & short-term orientation) that are influenced and modified by culture. The second four orientations grow out of anthropological work of Kluckhohns and Strodtbeck (human nature, time, activity, social orientation). Hall advanced our third taxonomy, which looks at how high-context and low-context cultures response to various message systems. Our final classification discusses some cultural patterns that we deem to be important, but that are not directly included in the other taxonomies.” Hofstede is the one of the earliest scholars who used statistical methods to study cultural values. In 1980, he surveyed nearly 100, 000 employees and established a huge database, which compiled paper-and-pencil survey results collected within subsidiaries of one large multinational business organization (IBM) in 53 countries and covering, among others, many questions about values. In his study, Hofstede (2001, p. ⅹⅸ) “identified five main dimensions (individualism & collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, power distance, masculinity & femininity, long-term orientation & short-term orientation) along with dominant value systems in the more than 50 countries can be ordered and that affect human thinking, feeling, and acting, as well as organizations and institutions, in predictable ways.” Individualism is the most important value pattern in American society. “Many Americans see the individualism in their culture as a major reason for the greatness of the United States.” (Hofstede, 2001, p.210) “Americans pride themselves ion being fiercely individualistic. They want to be ‘their own person’. They are much more concerned about their own careers and their personal success than about the welfare of the organization or group. For Americans, it’s ‘every man for himself’.” (Hall T. & Hall R., 1997, p.147) Individualism not only dominates the whole culture system in the United States,

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but also is the root of other culture values in the society. “Equality of opportunity, independence, initiative, and self-reliance are some of the values that have remained as basic American ideals throughout history. All of these values are expressive of a high degree of individualism.” (Gannon, 2001, p.213) On the contrary, the Chinese cultures favor collectivism. In speak of the collective culture in China, Meyer (1994, p.54) notes: “with individual rights severely subordinated, group action has been a distinctive characteristic of Chinese society” Some anthropologists think “the Chinese tradition has no equivalent for the or the western concept of ‘personality’: a separate entity distinct from society and culture. The Chinese word for ‘man’ (ren) includes the person’s intimate societal and cultural environment, which makes that person’s existence meaningful. Chinese tend to adapt their views relatively easily to this environment.” (Hsu, 1971) According to the Time Orientation values study of Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck, the Chinese and American cultures are distinct. China has an obvious Past Orientation culture, which “believes strongly in the significance of prior events. History, established religions, and tradition are extremely important to these cultures, so there is a strong belief that the past should be the guide for making decisions and determining truth.” (Samovar & Porter, 2004, p.72) While, by contrast, Americans hold a typical Future Orientation culture, which “emphasizes the future and expect to be grander than the present. What is going to happen holds the greatest attraction for most Americans because whatever we are doing is not quite as good as what we could be doing.” (Samovar & Porter, 2004, p.74) The power to control the future was clearly spelled out by former president Lyndon Johnson when he told all Americans that: “Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or to lose.” (Samovar & Porter, 2004, p.74) The anthropologist Edward Hall offers us another effective means of examining cultural similarities and differences in both perception and communication. He categories cultures as being either high or low context. He defines “a high context (HC) communication or message is one in which most of the information is already in the person, while very little is in the coded, explicitly transmitted part of the message. A low context (LC) communication is just the opposite; i.e., the mass of the information is vested in the explicit code.” (Hall T. & Hall R., 1997, p.6) Hall ranks all the countries he has studied in the diagram 2.7. Americans prefer low context talk and “they depend more on spoken words than on nonverbal behavior to convey messages. They think it is important to be able to ‘speak up’ and ‘say what is on their mind.’ They admire a person who has a moderately large vocabulary and who can express herself clearly and shrewdly.” (Althen, 1998, p.27) However, unlike Americans; Chinese communicate in a high context. Hall points out in his study that China, next only to Japan, has the second highest context culture around the world.

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In the studies of other values dimensions, researchers also find out that there are clear distinctions between Chinese and American culture values. For instance, in the study of “Assertiveness and Interpersonal Harmony”, researchers notice that American culture is famous for its assertiveness and aggressive communications; “the eloquent articulation of conviction is among the most valued virtues of American citizens, and the arts of argument and debate encourage in the home, school, and marketplace.” (Barnlund, 1989, p.157) Wenzhong & Grove (1990, p.23) intensify the above perspective; “in a culture where individualism is as highly valued as it is in the United States, people are expected to take the initiative in advancing their personal interests and well-being and to be direct and assertive in interacting with others. High social and geographic mobility and the comparatively superficial nature of many personal attachments create a climate where inter-personal competition and a modest level of abrasiveness are tolerated and even expected.” Quite different from the American one, Chinese culture is a typical representation of interpersonal harmony. The Chinese people “tend to regard conflict and confrontation as unpleasant and undesirable.” (Gao & Ting-Tommey, 1998, p.61) Moreover, “It is without a doubt that harmony is one of the primordial values of Confucianism and of the Chinese value.” (Chen & Xiao, 1993) “According to Confucianism, the ultimate goal of human behavior is to achieve ‘harmony’ which leads Chinese people to pursue a conflict-free and group-oriented system of human relationships.” (Chen, 1993) In summary, the Chinese cultures are quite other than the American ones in the dimensions of Hofstede, Kluckhohn, Strodtbeck, Hall and other researchers’ studies. The American cultures admire individualism; care more about the future life; prefer low context communication and tend to freely express disagreements and conflicts. Just to be contrary, the Chinese cultures appreciate collectivism; more respect the past life; prone to talk in high context and pursue the interpersonal harmony.

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Ⅲ American Soap Operas and Dominant American Cultural Patterns Soap operas did not have a comparable long history, “American speech lists ‘soap opera’ among its ‘new words’ in 1942, but it appears in Newsweek as early as 1939……by 1939, ‘soap opera’ had been taken up in the general press as a generic substitute for the less colorful and more cumbersome ‘daytime dramatic serial’……. and the ‘soap’ in ‘soap opera’ derives from the sponsorship of daytime serials by manufacturers of household cleaning products.” (Allen R., 1985, p.8) There is no common definition of the soap opera shared across the world; based on the Merriam-Webster’s 11th Collegiate Dictionary’s definition, soap opera is “a serial drama performed originally on daytime radio or television program and chiefly characterized by tangled interpersonal situations and melodramatic or sentimental treatment.” Currently in US, TV serials can be mainly classified into three categories, soap operas or serial operas, sitcoms (situation comedies) and dramas; and furthermore, dramas can continually be sub-categorized into crime drama, thriller drama, sci-fi drama, medical drama and western drama. Before 1980s, soap operas were broadcasted both in daytime and at night; however, the latter ones were gradually replaced by dramas and sitcoms at the end the 1980s. Rest on the above classification, Friends, Will and Grace, Growing Pains and Sex and the City are typical sitcoms; Prison Break, Lost, and Grey’s anatomy, which have dramatic conflicts and sentimental plots can be categorized into dramas; and serials like Desperate Housewives are famous soap operas concerning with family problems. Usually, different types of TV serials take different broadcast times in the Sates, soap operas and talk shows are always in the period of 10:00 to 16:00; while the drams and the sitcoms inhabit in the primetime of a day, 20:00 to 23:00 in the evening. (Qu & Zhu, 2995, p.139) In this study, we are concerning with the TV serials transmitted via Internet, and they turn out to be not only one certain type but a mix of several types. Hence, for convenience; “American soap operas” in this study stands for all the American TV serials that Chinese audiences acquire from Internet. As to the question to what extent do these soap operas embody the mainstream cultural values in American society; Fiske (1987, p.37) thinks that “Television is, above all else, a popular cultural medium. The economics that determine its production and distribution demand that it reaches a mass audience, and a mass audience in western industrialized societies is composed of numerous subcultures, or subaudiences, with a wide variety of social relations, a variety of sociocultural experience and therefore a variety of discourses that they will being to bear upon the program in order to understand and enjoy it. For its own purposes television attempts to homogenize this variety so that the one program can reach as many different

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audiences have in common.” It implies in Fiske’s statement that the soap operas have to create a psychological approach to the audiences in order to attract them; and a psychological approach is established when the values and judgments a soap reflects parallel with the audiences’. Since the majority of the audiences are common social members who share mainstream values of the society; thus, the American soap operas are the reproductions of dominant values of American cultures. Some scholars inspect the problem from a text analysis angle. Barthes categorizes text into two different types: readerly and writerly. “A readerly text is one that approximates to what MacCabe calls a ‘classic realist text’, that is, one which ‘reads’ easily, does not foreground its own nature as discourse, and appears to promote a singular meaning which is not that of the text, but of the real.” (Fiske, 1987, p.94) In that case, soap operas are a kind of readerly text which “attempts to conceal all traces of itself as a factory within which a particular social reality is produced through standard representations and dominant signifying practices.” (Silverman, 1983, p.244) Not only reflect mainstream values of the society, the American soap operas will change at the moment the dominant ideologies of the culture change. “Social change does occur, ideological values do shift, and television is part of this movement….but television can be, must be, part of that change, and its effectively will either hasten or delay it.” (Fiske, 1987, p.45) Feuer (1984) gives a good account of how MTM Enterprises in the l970s produced sitcoms that picked up and developed cultural concerns with shifting definitions of femininity, and produced shows like The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rhoda, and The Bob Newhart Show. “The rise of Reaganism and the rehabilitation of the US experience in Vietnam has modified the cop show and reasserted its popularity. Not only do many shows have heroes who learned their ideologically validated skills in Vietnam (e.g., Magnum pi, The 4-Team, Simon and Simon) but the narratives continually reenact the right of those in control of ‘The Law’ to impose that law upon others.” Ⅳ Intercultural communication and Cultural Imperialism “Intercultural communication is the circumstance in which people from diverse cultural background interacts with one another….Cultural diversity has the potential to make intercultural communication very difficult–and in some instances utterly impossible.” (Samovar & Porter, 2004, p.2) “The origins of intercultural communication as a field of study are typically traced to the work of Edward Hall.” (Leeds-Hurwitz, 1990) And his book The Silence Language, which is “typically considered the first ‘intercultural communication’

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book” (Hall B., 2005, p.19) was published in 1959. Hall worked for the government and “his early work was primarily concerned with very practical applications designed to help make a consumer of the research more successful in jobs that required intercultural interaction.” (Hall B., 2005, p.19) After Edward Hall, “two other major perspectives have developed within the field of intercultural communication: interpretive and critical…..The interpretive focus on understanding the other and the critical respective, which attends to subtle forms of oppression in society.” (Hall B., 2005, p.19) Altogether, traditional (practical), interpretive and critical are the three major perspectives so far were found in the studies of intercultural communication. As to our study, how does one culture pattern influence and change another one, it is parallel with the main theories in the critical perspective. “One of the most basic concepts within the critical perspective is the notion of hegemony” (Lull, 2000) and the earliest study of hegemony dates back to “the Italian intellectual Antonio Gramsci, who wrote about how ruling elites used the mass media to perpetuate their power and their ways of viewing the world.” (Hall B., 2005, p.316) As Lull J. pointed out “One of Gramsci’s major contributions in terms of our understanding of hegemony was his observation that the dominant ideologies of those in power came to be seen and accepted by the general public as simply the way the world is.” (Lull, 2000) Later, Edward Said (1993) published his book Culture and Imperialism, firstly investigates the relationship between culture and the imperialism of the West. “Said brilliantly illuminates how culture and politics cooperated, knowingly and unknowingly, to produce a system of domination that involved more than cannon and soldiers - a sovereignty that extended over forms, images, and the very imaginations of both the dominators and the dominated.” (Puckrein, 1993) Herbert Schiller, one of the best known writers on media imperialism, is the first scholar who systematically explained the concept of “cultural imperialism” as “the sum of the process by which a society is brought into the modern world system and how its dominating stratum is attracted, pressured, forced, and sometimes bribed into shaping social institutions to correspond to, or even promote, the values and structures of the dominating center of the system.” (Schiller, 1976, p.9) Up to the mid-terms of 1980s, Schiller’s theories have been greatly challenged since more and more theorists are well aware that cultural domination does not exactly like the economic domination. Moreover, the cultural resistance in fact is almost simultaneous with the cultural hegemony. Plus, cultural imperialism is not merely the problem of mass communication, but connecting with the problems of modernity, ethnic identity, and consumerism. (Zhang Xian, 2006) Tomlinson (1991, p.3), an English scholar, starts with discourse analysis and critically defines “cultural imperialism” as “the use of political and economic power to exalt and spread the values and habits of a foreign culture at the expense of a native

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culture” in the eyes of a modernist. Speak of the influences of cultural imperialism to cultural identity, he notes that: “in societies and at times in which habitual routine governs most social experience-what we might call the ‘stable mode’ of capitalist modernity-national identities tend to be at the background of consciousness and so the routine reception of alien culture goods may proceed in the same manner and according to the same needs as the consumption of any other cultural commodities.” (Tomlinson, 1991, p.88) In another word words, “the general sense of cultural belongings is replaced, in the ‘stable mode’ of capitalist modernity, by a ‘commodified’ habitual social experience in which all ‘identities’ become, effectively, submerged.” (Tomlinson, 1991, p.88) As to the question how does capitalist modernity impose an influence on the original cultural identities, American scholars, as the representative of the output country, have distinct angles and perspectives with the foreign scholars on behalf of the input countries. Such divergence can be fully illustrated by the discussion of “whether or not, American soap operas are outputting the influences of cultural imperialism.” For the sake of answering the above question, both researchers conduct a lot of studies which mainly focus on two soaps, Donald Duck and Dallas. Dorfman and Mattelart come from Chile and their study on Donald Duck began at 1970s, at the time this Disney comic swept the globe. The two authors accused Disney's comics as a mass medium with the revolutionary power of the pen: as American export sensations, the comic-books reached countless children all over the world. “Dorfman and Mattelart aim to demonstrate the imperialism nature of the values ‘concealed’ behind the innocent, wholesome façade of the world of Walt Disney” (Tomlinson, 1991, p.41) they saw this as an insidious way of establishing one's own world view. As Martin Baker (1989, p.24) summarizes Dorfman and Mattelart’s argument: “American capitalism has to persuade the people it dominates that the ‘American way of life’ is what they want and American superiority is natural and in everyone’s best interest.” Dorfman and Mattelart go on further suggest that people’s thoughts, even their behaviors have changed attributing to the impact of American soaps. “When the explanation comes, it is frankly disappointing: The housewives in the slums is incited to buy the latest refrigerator or washing machine, the impoverished industrial worker lives bombarded with images if the Fiat 125. Underdeveloped peoples take the comics at second hand, as instruction in the way they are supposed to live and related to the foreign power center.” (Dorfman & Mattelart, 1975, p.98) Meanwhile, the European critics also supported Dorfman and Mattelart’s findings. In their opinions, “Dallas was regarded as yet more evidence of the threat posed by American-style commercial culture against 'authentic' national cultures and identities.” (Ang, 1985, p.2) Tamar and Sonia mentioned in their research of the European soaps “Dallas, the American prime-time soap, immensely popular in Europe, became the symbol of what was then labeled ‘American cultural imperialism’ or ‘Americanization’, terms which may better be replaced by more neutral

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‘globalization’ or even audiovisual ‘modernization’. ‘Europe fights back’ was spirited slogan which called for the local production of European family series in order to combat the threat if television capitulating to Americanization.” However, active audience theorists, such as Tamar Liebes and Ien Ang, afterwards have conducted research illustrating how domestic audiences respond to Western media in an attempt to prove that cultural imperialism does not exist. “For we must accept one thing: Dallas is popular because a lot of people somehow enjoy watching it. On the other hand we should not make the opposite mistake and let ourselves be blinded by the fabulous popularity of Dallas.” (Ang, 1985, p.4) Ang (1985, p.115) goes on further finding that “Its influence will be mainly restricted to people's opinions and rational consciousness, to the discourses people use when talking about culture. These opinions and rationalizations need not, however, necessarily prescribe people's cultural practices.” Liebes studied the impact of the popular TV program "Dallas" in Israel and the study included four groups of Israeli viewers: Israeli Arabs, Moroccan Jewish immigrants, kibbutz members, and new Russian immigrants. “Liebes found that the message imparted by "Dallas" depended on the viewer's values and varied according to the experiences of the particular group to which the viewer belonged. The viewer, therefore, actively produces meaning while consuming the media product or program.” (White, 2001) The study of Tamar Liebes and Elihu Katz enhances the questioned noises in the academic field. According to Schiller (1989), the "New York Times" generously devoted half a page to a discussion of Liebes work asserting that it "relates to a larger debate about the so-called American cultural imperialism - the extent to which American programs, art, culture, and other values are exported and overwhelm those of foreign countries." (Schiller, 1989, p.149) They argue that audiences from different ethics and races tend to bring their own peoples’ values in when they are judging the soaps. Such ideas are also supported by Tomlinson (1991, p.49) “their (the viewers) responses seems to be not just a rejection of Western decadence, but an actual reinforcement of the audience’s own cultural values…extended from issues of interpersonal and sexual morality to the programme’s celebration of wealth: ‘with all that they have money, my lifestyle is higher than theirs.’ ” Besides the above studies primarily concerning with the American soap operas, researchers who are focusing on the impact of the media on culture have the same divergence. Stephen Chaffee and Morgan are both the researchers who are interested in what impact the media produced in the United Sates is having on people in other countries, however, their findings are poles apart. One of Chaffee’s (1992) reports suggests that “Chinese women who were exposed to media programming from the United States developed more individualistic attitudes than those who only watched media produced in China.” On the contrary, Morgan & Shanahan (1992) in their studies found that “Although media in general had an impact on various values in adolescents in

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Argentina and Taiwan, exposure to media produced in the United States did not have an impact on cultural values of either group.”

Methodology Ⅰ Research Questions and Hypotheses As to the question how and to what extent will American cultural products affect the audiences’ values, it is still controversial. Cultural critics like Dorfman and Mattelart insist that the American cultural products, especially the soap operas are infested with American values and ways of thinking, and they will impact the original cultural patterns of the audiences and may in turn bring the shifts of the values. However, scholars like Ang, Liebes and Katz hold a doubt with the overwhelming effects of these products, just as Tomlinson (1991, p.50) says: “ We might conclude that this impact (imperialism text on the audience life and interpersonal) has been seriously overstated in the polemics of writers like Schiller, Dorfman and Mattelarts.” Hence, there are three questions due to be solved by this study. 1: From the quantitative perspective, whether or not will the American soaps bring the shifts of values to the audiences? 2: If there were shifts, in which dimensions and to what extent do these shifts happen? 3: Given the shifts occur, do demographic characteristics play an important role in the change? The dimensions we choose combine the studies of Hofstede and Bond, the reasons lie in the following three aspects: in the first place, Hofstede’s classification of value dimensions is acknowledged to be the most sophisticated one. Secondly, in terms of research methods, Hofstede and Bond adopt a more empirical one, value survey. It is without a doubt that their surveys are more practical and objective, comparing with discourse analysis or content analysis which is used by other scholars like Edward Hall. In addition, Bond’s supplement of Confucian Dynamics makes the research more neutral and balanced, since the testees of this study are Chinese audiences, thus the adoption of Bond’s dimensions will make the research much easier and more valid. Before Bond, most of the values scales are partial to western orientation. For example, Hofstede, in his survey uses the term “uncertainty avoidance”, which could be easily understood under western context; whereas, as to Chinese people, they have some difficulties in apprehending it. Then, Michael Harris Bond “found a creative solution to the western bias problem. Bond asked a number of Chinese social scientists from Hong Kong and Taiwan to prepare in Chinese a list of at least ten basic

14

values for Chinese people. Through the elimination of overlap and, on the other side, adding some values that from his reading of Chinese philosophers and social scientists seemed to be similarly important, he arrived at a questionnaire of forty items – the same number as in the previously used RVS (Rokeach Values Survey).” (Hofstede G. & Hofstede J., 2005, p.30) There were only four dimensions in Hofstede’s initial study; the fifth dimension, long-term orientation & short-term orientation, was not supplemented into the survey until Bond created Chinese Value Survey. In 1980s, when Hofstede undertook his research, China was not in his target list by reason that IBM did not have any branches in China at that time. Therefore, Hofstede just surveyed the employees of IBM in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Bond retrospect all the value studies before 1996 and drew out most of the studies concerning with Chinese societies in order to summarize the similarities and differences among Chinese societies in various countries. He finally found that the cultural values of mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan resemble each other to a large extent. (Bond T. A., 1996) In 1994, Schwartz undertook another value survey, Schwartz Value Survey (SVS), which involved more than 60000 individuals in 64 nations on all continents and contained 57 items that represent 10 value types on an individual level and 7 value orientations on the cultural level. After analyzed Singapore samples, he noted “the sample from Singapore shows a profile that is closest to the pure Hofstede conception of collectivism, high in Conservatism and Hierarchy and low in Autonomy and Mastery.” (Schwartz, 1994) The above studies show that compared with western countries, most of the Chinese societies have similar values in dimensions of power distance, collectivism and hierarchy. Hence, we choose the below three dimensions to research: ⅰLong-term orientation and Short-term orientation Diagram 7.1 is the results of Hofstede’s study in this dimension. For a long time, Hofstede’s value study is criticized by reason of eastern bias. He later added a new dimension, long-term & short-term orientation, which was adopted from the Chinese Value Survey (CVS) of Michael Harris Bond in order to fix that problem. Chinese Value Survey are “involving 23 countries, used a form called Chinese Value Survey. This was “an instrument developed by Michael Harris Bond in Hong Kong from values suggested by Chinese Scholars.” This orientation is also known as Confucian dynamism.” (Hofstede & Bond, 1988) Hofstede explained the relationship between his new dimension and the Confucian theories, “ the Confucians oppose short-term to long-term aspects of Confucian thinking: persistence and thrift to personal stability and respect for tradition.” (Hofstede, 2001, p.351)

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The distinctions between long-term orientation and short-term orientation are obvious, Hofstede’s study mainly focused on employees in the commercial corporations, “For example, in business organizations, cultures that rank high on long-term orientation (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea) would must likely have employees who reflect a strong work ethic and show great respect to their employers. Those cultures that rank low in the long-term orientation index (United States, Great Brain, Canada, Philippines) often do not place a high priority on status, try to postpone old age, are concerned with short-term results, and as such seek immediate gratification of their needs.” (Hofstede, 2001, p.336-367) The first hypothesis is proposed as: Hypothesis 1: Compared with people who do not watch American soap operas, the individual value systems of American soap opera audiences tend to shift to short-term oriented. ⅱIndividualism & Collectivism Diagram 5.1 shows the results of Hofstede’s study in this dimension. Over the years, researchers consider “self-orientation versus collective orientation is one of the basic pattern variables that determine human action” (Samovar & Porter, 2004, p.78) and “individualistic and collective value tendencies are manifested in everyday family, school, and work place interactions.” (TingToomey, 1999, p.67)

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In society worships individualism, “people’s personal goals take priority over their allegiance to groups like the family or the employer. The loyalty of individualists to a given group is very weak; they feel they belong to many groups and are apt to change their membership as it suits them, switching churches, for example, or leaving one employer for another.” (Goleman, 1990) However, “In cultures that tend toward toward individualism, competition rather than cooperation is encouraged; personal goals take precedence over group goals; people tend not to be emotionally dependent on organizations and institutions; and every individual has the right to his or her private property, thoughts and opinions.” (Samovar & Porter, 2004, p.60) Triandis (1990, p.52) contends “collectivism means greater emphasize on the views, needs, and goals of in-group rather than oneself; social norms and duty defined by the in-group rather than behavior to get pleasure; beliefs shared with the in-group rather than beliefs that distinguish self from in-group; and great readiness to cooperate with in-group members.” The characteristics of collectivism are summarized by Samovar as “a rigid social framework that distinguishes between in-groups and out-groups characterizes collectivism. People count on their in-group (relatives, clans, organizations) to look after them, and in exchange for that they believe they owe absolute loyalty to the group.” (Samovar & Porter, 2004, p.61) According to Hofstede’s study, America has the most individualistic culture in the world; while, people in Chinese societies have weak awareness of individualism. Hong Kong and Taiwan respectively rank 37 and 44 in his list. (Hofstede, 2001, p.215) Hence, the second hypothesis is suggested as: Hypothesis 2: Compared with people who do not watch American soap operas, the individual value systems of American soap opera audiences more easily shift from

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collectivism to individualism. ⅲPower Distance Diagram 3.1 is the value rankings of different countries in this dimension. Power distance is another dimension in Hofstede’s study, and the concept of power distance comes from a Netherlands social psychologist Mulder (1977, p.90), and he defines this term as “the degree of inequality in power between a less powerful individual (I) and a more powerful other (O), in which I and O belong to the same (loosely or tightly knit) social system.” Foster (1992, p.267) later simplifies and clarifies this concept, “in some cultures, those who hold power and those who are affected by power are significantly far apart (high power distance) in many ways, while in other cultures, the power holders and those affected by the power holders are significantly closer (low power distance).” Meanwhile, Samovar also notes that “The premise of the dimension deals with the extent to which a society prefers that power in relationships, institutions, and organizations be distributed unequally. Although all cultures have tendencies for both high- and low-power relationships, one orientation seems to dominate.” (Samovar & Porter, 2004, p.64)

“Individuals from high power distance cultures accept power as part of society. As such, superiors consider their subordinates to be different themselves and vice versa.” (Gudykunst, 2001, p.41) In the high-power distance cultures, “both consciously and and unconsciously, these cultures teach their members that people are not equal in this world and that everybody has a rightful place, which is clearly marked by countless vertical arrangements. Social hierarchy is prevalent and institutionalizes inequality.” (Samovar & Porter, 2004, p.65)

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In the low-power-distance countries, “cultures referred to as ‘low power distance’ are guided by laws, norms and everyday behaviors that make power distinctions as minimal as possible.” (Brislin, 1999, p.288) “People in these cultures believe they are close to power and should have access to that power. To them, a hierarchy is an inequality of roles established for convenience. Subordinates consider superiors to be the same kind of people as they are, and the superiors perceive their subordinates the same way.” (Samovar & Porter, 2004, p.66) The effects of power distance not only exist between superiors and subordinates; within the education context, “in large power distance societies, the educational process is teacher centered. The teacher initiates all communication, outlines the path of learning students should follow, and is never publicly criticized or contradicted. In large power distance societies, the emphasis is on the personal ‘wisdom’ of the teacher, while in small power distance societies the emphasis is on impersonal ‘truth’ that can be obtained by any competent person.” (Calloway-Thomas, Cooper & Blake, 1999, p.196) As to the further analysis of Hofstede, he found that the different concepts of power distance in different cultures derive from the varieties of family values. “In large-power-distance situation, children are expected to be obedience toward their parents. Sometimes there is even an order of authority among the children themselves, younger children being expected to yield to older children. Independent behavior on the part of a child is not encouraged.” (Hofstede G. & Hofstede J., 2005, p.51) However in small-power-distance situation, “a need for independence is supposed to be a major component of mental software of adults.” (Hofstede G. & Hofstede J., 2005, p.52) Consequently, the third hypothesis of the study is: Hypothesis 3: Compared with people who do not watch American soap operas, the individual value systems of American soap opera audiences are more easily shifting to low-power-distance orientation. In addition to the above; questions as “which gender more often adheres to stereotypes of their cultural values?” could also be answered. Hence, do the demographically different people act differently in case they are confronting conflicts of cultures? In order to make it clear, I proposed several more hypotheses. Hypothesis 4: Females are easier to change their values than males in the face the influences of American soaps. Hypothesis 5: People with high-level education are not easier to change their values in face of the influences of American soaps. Hypothesis 6: Older people are more reluctant to change their values in face of the influences of American soaps.

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Ⅱ Test and Measures In previous studies, the value surveys are not rare to see. In the book of Robinson, Shaver and Wrightsman, they listed almost 20 value scales designed by predecessors; such as the Rokeach Value Scale in 1967, the East-West Questionnaires designed by Gilgen and Cho in 1979, Value Orientations Scale of Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck in 1961, and so on. (Robinson, Shaver & Wrightsman, 1991, p.661-742) All those scales are approved to be reliable and valid in the previous studies; however, each scale has their specific purposes and matches certain dimensions. This study adopts the dimensions of Hofstede and Bond; nevertheless, I do not directly intend to use the value scales of Hofstede. For Hofstede’s study solely surveys the employees of IBM in that most of his questions relate to the workplace; for example, in measuring one’s individualism and collectivism, he proposed the questions “How important it is to you work with people who cooperate well with one another? And How important it is to you have considerable freedom to adopt your own approach to the job? ” (Hofstede, 2005, p.468) However, the interviewees of this study are chosen according to their interests of soaps regardless of their occupations; therefore, Hofstede’s value scales are not appropriate to use. Fortunately, Hofstede concluded the polarization values of different dimensions. Take power distance as an example; he noted that in low-power-distance societies, people tend to think all the social members have equal rights, while in the high-power-distance societies, citizens tend to hold the concept that the powerful should have privileges. Based on the items Hofstede’s listed, I designed a five scale which will be used as measurements of this study. ⅰLong-term orientation & Short-term orientation In this dimension, Hofstede concluded in aspects of general norm, family and school, business and economics, religion and ways of thinking; (Hofstede G. & Hofstede J., 2005, p.212,217,225,232) but some of the items he listed are involving with strong western context; and moreover, some items many confuse the interviewees after translation. Thus, after omitting some ambiguous ones, I select 22 items in this dimension. Efforts should produce quick results.

Perseverance, sustained efforts toward slow results.

Social pressure toward spending.

Thrift, being sparing with resources.

Respect for traditions.

Respect for circumstances.

Concern with personal stability.

Concern with personal adaptiveness.

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Marriage is a moral arrangement.

Marriage is a pragmatic arrangement.

Living with in-laws is a source of trouble.

Living with in-laws is normal.

Old age is an unhappy period but it starts Old age is a happy period and it starts early. late. Preschool children can be cared for by Mothers should have time for their preschool others. children. Children get gifts for fun and love.

Children get development.

gifts

for

education

and

Children should learn tolerance and respect Children should learn how to be thrifty. for others. Birth order is not a matter of status.

Older children in the family have authority over younger children.

Students attribute success and failure to Students attribute success to effort and failure luck. to lack of it. Analytical thinking.

Synthetic thinking.

Leisure time is important.

Leisure time is not important.

Importance of this year’s profits.

Importance of profits 10 years from now.

Investment in mutual funds.

Investment in real estate.

Concern with possessing the Truth.

Concern with respecting the demands of Virtue.

There are universal guidelines about what What is good and evil depends upon the is good and evil. circumstances. Higher rates of imprisonment.

Lower rates of imprisonment.

There is a need for cognitive consistency.

Disagreement does not hurt.

If A is true, its opposite B must be false.

If A is true, its opposite B can also be true.

Priority given to abstract rationality.

Priority given to common sense.

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ⅱIndividualism & Collectivism In this dimension, Hofstede listed the polarization values on general norm and family, language, personality and behavior, school and the work place, the state and ideas. (Hofstede G. & Hofstede J., 2005, p.92, 97,104,109) I finally select 20 items for the scale. Laws and rights are supposed to be the same Laws and rights differ by group. for all. Children learn to think in terms of “I”.

Children learn to think in terms of “we”

Speaking one’s mind is a characteristic of Harmony should always be maintained and an honest person. direct confrontations avoided. Trespassing leads to guilty and loss of Trespassing leads to shame and loss of face for self-respect. self and group.

The purpose of education is learning how to The purpose of education is learning how to do. learn. The employer-employee relationship is a The employer-employee relationship contract between parties on a labor market. basically moral, like a family.

is

Hiring and promotion decisions are Hiring and promotion decisions take an supposed to be based on skills and rules employee’s in-group into account. only. Management is management of individuals.

Management is management of groups.

Task prevails over relationship.

Relationship prevails over task.

Everyone has a right to privacy.

Private life in invaded by groups.

Everyone is expected to have a private Opinions are opinion. membership. Media is the primary source of information.

predetermined

by

group

Social network is the primary source of information.

Self-actualization by every individual is an Harmony and consensus in society are ultimate

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ultimate goal.

goals.

A larger share of both private and public A smaller share of both private and public incomes is spent on health care. incomes is spent on health care. Ideologies of individual freedom prevail Ideologies of equality prevail over ideologies of over ideologies of equality. individual freedom. Joint stock companies are owned by Companies individual investors. collectives. Occupational mobility is higher.

are

owned

by

families

or

Occupational mobility is lower.

Diplomas increase economic worth and/or Diplomas provide entry to higher status groups. self-respect. Autonomy is the ideal.

Patriotism is the ideal.

Students are expected to individually speak Students only speak up up in class. sanctioned by the group.

in class when

ⅲPower Distance In this dimension, Hofstede summarized in spheres of general norm, family and school, the workplace, the state. (Hofstede G. & Hofstede J., 2005, p.57, 59, 67) The items which are used in the scale are the following 18. Inequality among minimized.

people

should

be Inequality among people are expected and desired.

Parents treat children as equals.

Parents teach children obedience.

Teachers expect initiative from students in Teachers should take all initiatives in class. class. Teachers are experts impersonal truths.

who

transfer Teachers are gurus who transfer personal virtues.

Students treat teachers as equals.

Hierarchy inequality

Students give teachers respect, even outside of class.

in organizations means an Hierarchy in organizations reflects existential of roles, established for inequality between higher and lower levels.

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convenience. There is a narrow salary range between the There is a wide salary range between the top top and bottom of the organization. and bottom of the organization. Managers rely on their own experience and Managers rely on superiors and on formal rules. on subordinates. All should have equal rights.

The powerful should have privileges.

Skills, wealth, power and status need not go Skills, wealth, power and status should go together. together. There are small income differentials in There are large income differentials in society, society, further reduced by the tax system. further increased by the tax system. There is more dialogue and less violence in There is less dialogue and more violence in domestic politics. domestic politics. Mostly wealthier countries with a large Mostly wealthier countries with a small middle middle class. class. Quality of learning depends on two-way Quality of learning depends on excellence of communication and excellence of students. teachers. The ideal boss is a resourceful democrat.

The ideal boss is a benevolence autocrat, or “good father”.

Less educated persons hold more Both more and less educated persons show authoritarian values than more educated equal authoritarian values. persons. Decentralization is popular.

Centralization is popular.

Educational policy focuses on secondary Educational policy focuses on universities. schools. Ⅲ Research Design & Sampling In order to test the potential causal relationship between watching American soaps and shifts of values, this study adopts Solomon Four-Group Design. Besides, it could also be used for controlling the effects of Pretest Sensitization now that the pretest may affect the attitudes and behaviors of the interviewees.

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The targets will be chosen from sfile.ydy.com/bbs[1]. BBS plays a vital role in the spread of soaps in that net people in China can download them freely. Fans of different types of soaps usually found groups on BBS to share the same interests; they also discuss these soaps within the group. According to Liang Liang, the founder of YYETS (www.yyets.net)[2], members of a certain soap group on BBS are more often than not the core fans of this genre of soap, which indicates that they spend most of their leisure time on this kind of soaps. For instance, the members of “Hong Kong soap group” rarely watch other types of soaps but Hong Kong ones; similarly, the “American soap group” mostly focuses on American soaps. As fans of Chinese soaps do not found any groups on BBS, I choose members of “Hong Kong soap group” as my objectives. In the previous studies, researchers find that most of the cultural values in mainland China and Hong Kong societies resemble a lot, (Bond T. A., 1996) especially in the dimensions this study focuses on. Thus, it is predicted that a large-scale shift of values will not occur even if Chinese audiences watch Hong Kong soaps extendedly. At first place, the selected interviewees will be surveyed by Rokeach Value Scale[3], which is generally considered to be the most effective one among various value scales; and the all the testees will be ranked by their scores afterwards. Then the researcher will choose 80 members whose scores are most close to a certain range; within which, the testees are reckoned hold typical Chinese values. If the number of qualified testees beyond 80; the systematic sampling will be adopted; and the members will be chosen by a certain distance from a list in which their user names are alphabetically ranked. The 80 selected members then will be randomly and averagely distributed to 4 groups. If there are less than 80 qualified members, then the sampling part will be skipped and the testees are being grouped into 4 parts averagely. The soap which this study chooses is Desperate Housewives, reasons are raised as below. To begin with, Desperate Housewives bases on the American family life and the families in the soap are the middle-class majorities in American society; hence, their behaviors and ways of life best embody the dominant social values in US. At the second place, it is a show on ABC networks, one of the biggest three TV networks in the States, so that a rigorous review is implemented before broadcasting. In order to pass the strict inspection; the soap seldom exaggerates sex and violence, and such provocative or pornographic images are very likely to distort audiences’ judgments. In addition, compared with other soaps with same popularity, the American society in Desperate Housewives is much more authentic; for example, Prison Break’s story [1] It is the most comprehensive soap website in China, where audiences can find almost every domestic soap and some of the hit ones aboard. Moreover, fans of different genres of soaps organize groups, such as Hong Kong soap group, American soap group, and so on. [2] It is one of the biggest American-soaps-download websites in China, with over 80,000 users; and it organize the earliest Subtitles Group among the soap websites. [3] I choose the Rokeach Value Scale, which is acknowledgedly recognized as the most effective scale in measuring the general values, instead of the newly designed five scales in order to guarantee the validity of the study. Listed below are the specific reasons; firstly, the five scales are mainly focusing on the three dimensions this study will test, while the RVS are inclusively effective under general circumstances. Secondly, the five scales will be used twice later in the study, and repeatedly use one scale may cause sensitization consequently.

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happens in the jail and Lost shows an abnormal life which would never happen in real life. In all, three seasons (season 1, 2, 3 respectively has 23, 24, 23 episodes with altogether almost 3500 minutes) of Desperate Housewives are used as “stimulus” by this study. As shown in the below tables, members in group A and B will be surveyed by the five-scale at the beginning of the research. Then, disks of three seasons of Desperate Housewives will be dispatched to the members of group A and group C. For it may not convenient for some interviewees to receive the mailed disks; there is an alternative way to obtain these soaps, the BBS will create each testee an account and open the FTP database for their downloading. Thus the testees can choose the most comfortable and convenient way to get soaps. The testing period is four months, which indicates that the testees of group A and C are required to finish watching all the three seasons of Desperate Housewives within the stipulated time and meanwhile, they are also required not to get access to any other genres of soap operas but the American ones in the testing period. As to the members in group B and D, there are no restrictions for them except for not contacting American soaps during the period; but it is permitted, even advocated, for them to watch Hong Kong soaps in accordance with their daily interests. Four months later, all the members in four groups are designed to take the post-test uniformly. Groups

Pretest

Watching Soaps

Posttest

Group A

√

√

√

Group B

√

√ √

Group C

√ √

Group D

Dimensions Groups

Dimension 1

Dimension 2

Dimension 3

Pretest

Post-test

Pretest

Post-test

Pretest

Post-test

Group A

√

√

√

√

√

√

Group B

√

√

√

√

√

√

Group C

√

√

√

Group D

√

√

√

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All the questionnaire surveys in this study are Internet based since the testees are selected on Internet regardless of their location. The questionnaires will be uploaded onto http://www.my3q.com, and the researchers invite the selected testees to complete the questionnaires through sending e-mails with the above link in. The testees will be subsidized in order to ensure they are willing to follow the rules during the process, which plays an important role in maintaining the validness of the research. Ⅳ Data Analysis ⅰ Test of Homogeneity in Solomon 4-group Design This study adopts Solomon 4-group Design, and the homogeneity of four groups of samples is a prerequisite for the effectiveness of this design. Specifically speaking for this study, the testees have to be guaranteed with two-aspect homogeneity; not only should they have homogeneous demographic characteristics but they are also supposed to have similar values. The latter test is done at the sampling process, the researcher select the samples according to their scores of Rokeach Value Test. A Chi-square Test for Homogeneity of Proportions will be conducted in order to study whether or not the samples are significantly different in demographic aspects. Five demographic variables are taken into consideration: gender, age, educational background, martial status and average soap opera consuming time. ⅱ Independent-sample T-test By this test, the researcher can discover the assuming existence of the causal association between watching American soaps and shifts of cultural patterns. In addition to that, the first three hypotheses could also be examined. The Independent-sample T-test will be formulated among several sets of data to study whether means of two comparing groups statistically differ from each other. 1: The pretest data of the experimental group A and the control group B in dimension 1, 2, and 3 will be tested in order to examine whether the experimental group and the control group act similarly toward the same test. 2: The experimental group A and the control group B will receive an Independent-sample T-test based on their post-test data in dimension 1, 2, and 3, in order to study whether watching the soaps cause the shifts of values as well as in which dimension do shifts occur. 3: An Independent-sample T-test of the post-test data of the experimental group C and the control group D in dimension 1, 2, and 3 will be used to verify the proposition that testees’ values shift in different dimensions after the stimulation by soaps.

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4: Another Independent-sample T-test will be performed on the post-test data in dimension 1, 2, and 3 of experimental group A and C with purposes of studying whether pretest sensitization exist in this study. ⅲ Paired-sample T-test A Paired-sample T-test is used to determine the significance of the difference between two sets of paired data; usually they are the pretest and post-test data of the same sample. It is an example of a repeated measures design in order to test whether the pretest create a defect that makes subjects either more or less sensitive to the experimental variable. In this study, two Paired-sample T-tests will be formulated. 1: The pretest data and the post-test data in dimension 1, 2, and 3 of the experimental group A will be tested in order to examine the changes between people’s values, which are either caused by watching soaps or the sensitization of pretest. 2: The control group B will also receive a Paired-sample T-test based on its pretest and post-test data in dimension 1, 2, and 3, aiming to study the existence of pretest sensitization. ⅳ Means Analysis with ANOVA Test It is often useful to examine means or averages of a variable according to categories of other variables, such as gender, educational background, and so on; and the output ANOVA test results could tell the researcher the significance of difference between categories; by which, and the researcher further determine whether the association exist between two variables. In this study, the means test could verify the hypotheses on the shifts of values and demographic characteristics (the last three hypotheses). 1: Respectively take the pretest data and the post-test data in dimension 1, 2 and 3 of the experimental group A as the dependent variables and take gender data as the independent variables. Then, compare the males’ pretest and post-test means as well as the females’ pretest and post-test means. From the extent of changes, researchers could conclude which gender is easier to change their values. 2: The pretest data and the post-test data in dimension 1, 2, and 3 of the experimental group A are also used as dependent variables and the educational background data are used as independent variables. Then compare the pretest and post-test means according to the educational categories and the extent of changes can reflect whether shifts of values and educational background relate. 3: The pretest data and the post-test data in dimension 1, 2, and 3 of the experimental group A receive another analysis when age data are used as independent variables. Compare the results according to the age categories subsequently and the researcher could find the correlation between shifts of values and age.

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Ⅴ Reliability and Validity Analysis ⅰ Reliability Analysis This study adopts Split Half Reliability analysis, in which the researcher split the variables into two average parts in three dimensions respectively for the correlation coefficient (r). Questions in each questionnaire have been proved to be the effective items in measuring people’s values in a certain dimension by the previous studies of Hofstede and Bond, thus, we can deduce that all the items within a certain dimension are measuring the same concept and the split-half reliability coefficients (r) are valid. ⅱValidity Analysis The frame of this study derives from Hofstede and Bond; the scales they used are being demonstrating and discussing for many turns. Moreover, Michael Harris Bond’s supplements to the study endow with the scales more validity. “Bond found a creative solution to the western bias problem. Bond asked a number of Chinese social scientists from Hong Kong and Taiwan to prepare in Chinese a list of at least ten basic values for Chinese people. Through the elimination of overlap and, on the other side, adding some values that from his reading of Chinese philosophers and social scientists seemed to be similarly important, he arrived at a questionnaire of forty items – the same number as in the previously used RVS (Rokeach Values Survey).” (Hofstede G. & Hofstede J., 2005, p.30) In all, the questionnaires this study used equip with Content Validity. Ⅵ Unstructured Interview Besides the quantitative survey, the study is also planned to conduct qualitative interviews for some members of Subtitles Group in YYETS (www.yyets.net). The unstructured interview mainly focuses on their work conditions and what they will dispose when they confront cultural conflicts during the translation. The Subtitles Group is a group of people having long-term exposure to US soaps and their senses of identities of the American values are supposed to be much higher than common audiences; hence, the interview may supplement to and explain for the research results to some extent. The number of people expected to interview is 5 or 6, recommended by Liang Liang and mainly through interviews or phone interviews.

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Appendix 1 Values Questionnaire of Long-term Orientation and Short-term Orientation

1. Statement A: Efforts should produce quick results. Statement B: Perseverance, sustained efforts toward slow results. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 2. Statement A: Social pressure toward spending. Statement B: Thrift, being sparing with resources. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B

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□Totally Agree With B 3. Statement A: Respect for traditions. Statement B: Respect for circumstances. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 4. Statement A: Concern with personal stability. Statement B: Concern with personal adaptiveness. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 5. Statement A: Marriage is a moral arrangement. Statement B: Marriage is a pragmatic arrangement. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 6. Statement A: Living with in-laws is a source of trouble. Statement B: Living with in-laws is normal. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 7. Statement A: Old age is an unhappy period but it starts late.

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Statement B: Old age is a happy period and it starts early. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 8. Statement A: Preschool children can be cared for by others. Statement B: Mothers should have time for their preschool children. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 9. Statement A: Children get gifts for fun and love. Statement B: Children get gifts for education and development. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 10. Statement A: Children should learn tolerance and respect for others. Statement B: Children should learn how to be thrifty. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 11. Statement A: Birth order is not a matter of status. Statement B: Older children in the family have authority over younger children.

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□Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 12. Statement A: Students attribute success and failure to luck. Statement B: Students attribute success to effort and failure to lack of it. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B 13. Statement A: Analytical thinking. Statement B: Synthetic thinking. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 14. Statement A: Leisure time is important. Statement B: Leisure time is not important. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 15. Statement A: Importance of this year’s profits. Statement B: Importance of profits 10 years from now. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand

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□Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 16. Statement A: Investment in mutual funds. Statement B: Investment in real estate. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 17. Statement A: Concern with possessing the Truth. Statement B: Concern with respecting the demands of Virtue. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 18. Statement A: There are universal guidelines about what is good and evil. Statement B: What is good and evil depends upon the circumstances. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B 19. Statement A: Higher rates of imprisonment. Statement B: Lower rates of imprisonment. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 20. Statement A: There is a need for cognitive consistency.

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Statement B: Disagreement does not hurt. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 21. Statement A: If A is true, its opposite B must be false. Statement B: If A is true, its opposite B can also be true. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 22. Statement A: Priority given to abstract rationality. Statement B: Priority given to common sense. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B

Appendix 2 Values Questionnaire of Individualism and Collectivism

1. Statement A: Laws and rights are supposed to be the same for all. Statement B: Laws and rights differ by group. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B

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□Totally Agree With B 2. Statement A: Children learn to think in terms of “I”. Statement B: Children learn to think in terms of “we”. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 3. Statement A: Speaking one’s mind is a characteristic of an honest person. Statement B: Harmony confrontations avoided.

should

always

be maintained

and

direct

□Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 4. Statement A: Trespassing leads to guilty and loss of self-respect. Statement B: Trespassing leads to shame and loss of face for self and group. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 5. Statement A: The purpose of education is learning how to learn. Statement B: The purpose of education is learning how to do. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B

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6. Statement A: The employer-employee relationship is a contract between parties on a labor market. Statement B: The employer-employee relationship is basically moral, like a family. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 7. Statement A: Hiring and promotion decisions are supposed to be based on skills and rules only. Statement B: Hiring and promotion decisions take an employee’s in-group into account. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 8. Statement A: Management is management of individuals. Statement B: Management is management of groups. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 9. Statement A: Task prevails over relationship. Statement B: Relationship prevails over task. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B

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□Totally Agree With B 10. Statement A: Everyone has a right to privacy. Statement B: Private life in invaded by groups. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 11. Statement A: Everyone is expected to have a private opinion. Statement B: Opinions are predetermined by group membership. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 12. Statement A: Media is the primary source of information. Statement B: Social network is the primary source of information. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B 13. Statement A: Self-actualization by every individual is an ultimate goal. Statement B: Harmony and consensus in society are ultimate goals. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 14. Statement A: A larger share of both private and public incomes is spent on health care.

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Statement B: A smaller share of both private and public incomes is spent on health care. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 15. Statement A: Ideologies of individual freedom prevail over ideologies of equality. Statement B: Ideologies of equality prevail over ideologies of individual freedom. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 16. Statement A: Joint stock companies are owned by individual investors. Statement B: Companies are owned by families or collectives. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 17. Statement A: Occupational mobility is higher. Statement B: Occupational mobility is lower. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 18. Statement A: Diplomas increase economic worth and/or self-respect.

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Statement B: Diplomas provide entry to higher status groups. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B 19. Statement A: Autonomy is the ideal. Statement B: Patriotism is the ideal. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 20. Statement A: Students are expected to individually speak up in class. Statement B: Students only speak up in class when sanctioned by the group. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B

Appendix 3 Values Questionnaire of Power Distance

1. Statement A: Inequality among people should be minimized. Statement B: Inequality among people are expected and desired. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B

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2. Statement A: Parents treat children as equals. Statement B: Parents teach children obedience. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 3. Statement A: Teachers expect initiative from students in class. Statement B: Teachers should take all initiatives in class. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 4. Statement A: Teachers are experts who transfer impersonal truths. Statement B: Teachers are gurus who transfer personal virtues. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 5. Statement A: Students treat teachers as equals. Statement B: Students give teachers respect, even outside of class. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 6. Statement A: Hierarchy in organizations means an inequality of roles, established for convenience.

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Statement B: Hierarchy in organizations reflects existential inequality between higher and lower levels. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 7. Statement A: There is a narrow salary range between the top and bottom of the organization. Statement B: There is a wide salary range between the top and bottom of the organization. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 8. Statement A: Managers rely on their own experience and on subordinates. Statement B: Managers rely on superiors and on formal rules. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 9. Statement A: All should have equal rights. Statement B: The powerful should have privileges. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 10. Statement A: Skills, wealth, power and status need not go together.

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Statement B: Skills, wealth, power and status should go together. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 11. Statement A: There are small income differentials in society, further reduced by the tax system. Statement B: There are large income differentials in society, further increased by the tax system. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 12. Statement A: There is more dialogue and less violence in domestic politics. Statement B: There is less dialogue and more violence in domestic politics. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B 13. Statement A: Mostly wealthier countries with a large middle class. Statement B: Mostly wealthier countries with a small middle class. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 14. Statement A: Quality of learning depends on two-way communication and excellence of students.

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Statement B: Quality of learning depends on excellence of teachers. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 15. Statement A: The ideal boss is a resourceful democrat. Statement B: The ideal boss is a benevolence autocrat, or “good father”. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 16. Statement A: Less educated persons hold more authoritarian values than more educated persons. Statement B: Both more and less educated persons show equal authoritarian values. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 17. Statement A: Decentralization is popular. Statement B: Centralization is popular. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B □Totally Agree With B 18. Statement A: Educational policy focuses on secondary schools.

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Statement B: Educational policy focuses on universities. □Totally Agree With A □Comparably Agree With A □Neutrally Stand □Comparably Agree With B

Appendix 4 Demographic Information 1. Gender：□Male □Female 2. Martial Status：□Marriaged □Single 3. Age：□20－25 □26－30 □31－35 □36－40 □Over40 4. Educational Background：□Primary School □Junior High □Senior High □Bachelor Degree □Master Degree □Higher Than Master Degree 5. Average Soap Opera Consuming Time ：□Below 1 Hour □1 to 2 Hours □2 to 3 Hours □3 to 4 Hours □Above 4 Hours

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