【正文】 eserved. Similarly, nonadaptive and harmful behaviors and values are discouraged and discarded. Over a period of time, useful behaviors, values and artifacts bee institutionalized and incorporated as part of cultural traditions. The individual then internalizes these institutionalized practices. Actually, if there are values considered central to a society that have existed for many years, these must be transmitted from one generation to another. Culture is the instrument by which each new generation acquires the capacity to bridge the distance that separates one life from another. Culture is EthnocentricPeople everywhere tend to assume their own culture is right and normal, and to assess all other cultures by how closely they resemble their own. Most people, especially those with little experience of other cultures, believe that their own culture is at the centre of human experience – hence “ethnocentrism”. Summer defined ethnocentric as “the technical name for the view of things in which one’s own group is the centre of everything, and all others are scaled and rated with reference to it”.[9] W. G. Summer, Folkways Boston: Ginnad, 1940, .[9] Like culture itself, ethnocentrism is usually learned at the unconscious level. For example, schools that teach mainly Chinese history, geography, literature, and government are also, without realizing it, teaching ethnocentrism. When we study only the acplishment of our Chinese, we are quietly learning ethnocentrism. Exposed to Confucianism as a child, we are learning to judge the world by this standard. Because we learn ethnocentrism so early in life, and primarily on the unconscious level, it might well be the major barrier to intercultural munication. For example, if males in the dominant culture value women who are thin, young, and darkhaired, then they will perceive women who are stout, older and blonde in a less favourable light. If we perceive privacy as a positive trait while another culture values openness, we again have perceptual differences. If we value vagueness in speech and another culture values directness, we might misinterpret what is being said. These three cases—and there are countless othersare examples of how perception influences munication. With the characteristic of culture in mind, the negotiator at the negotiating table should be conscious of avoiding the negative influence of his ethnocentric culture, which thus facilitates the negotiation process. Culture is CompellingOur behavior is determined by culture, but sometimes we aren’t aware of its influence. At every turn of our lives, we are under the control of our culture. The instant we are born in the world, we, no matter whether we are conscious of it or not, begin to follow the behaviours that other men have created for us. Sometimes we choose our life according to our willingness, sometimes we follow it because there is no other way, and still sometimes we deviate from it for we hate to return. As children, we begin to be moulded by our culture into those who follow the “proper” manners ranging from following teachers’ words, never arguing with others, to “protecting face” for the family and so forth. We adhere to the rules and regulations that are designed for us to carry out all the acts of living, thus we e to feel ourselves linked together by a powerful chain of sentiments. As a matter of fact, it is culture that binds us men together.Assimilating the designed perceptions and behaviours made by the culture, we will display them when entering the negotiating table. Because people from different cultures have distinct ways of life, a cultural clash will break out if one party has no sufficient knowledge of the culture of the other party. Cultural Orientations Culture is the dominant set of behaviors, values, beliefs, and thinking patterns we learn as we grow and develop in our social groups. Culture determines how we view others and ourselves, how we behave, and how we perceive the world around us. To navigate through an unfamiliar culture, we need to be able to get our bearings by relating ourselves to specific features in the environment the way a sailor uses the sun, the moon, the stars, and the horizon. Cultural orientations are an important aid when we are trying to get our bearings with a new culture. Each culture is built on core value orientations. Value orientations are preferences for certain states of affairs or outes over others.To identify a culture’s core values, Walker, D. E. and walker T. (2000) outline ten key cultural dimensions. We, to satisfy our requirements of better analyzing negotiating styles in the following chapter, make some adaptation of these dimensions according to the following three criteria: First of all, each dimension needs to recognize an important aspect of social life. Secondly, each dimension needs to be something to which any sociocultural environment gives its members a basic orientation as the shared rationale for behavior. Finally, each dimension has practical value to negotiators who need to reconcile, integrate, or transcend cultural difference in order to obtain a desired oute.Our eight cultural dimensions are as follows:1. Individualism (individualistic and collectivist): How individuals define their identity2. Communication (highcontext and lowcontext。 direct and indirect): How individuals express themselves3. Time (fluid time and fixed time): How individuals perceive the nature of time and its use 4. Action (being and doing): How individuals view actions and interactions5. Power distance (high power distance and low power distance): How individuals view differential power relationships6. Structure (high uncertaintyavoidance and low uncertaintyavoidance): how individuals approach change, risk, ambiguity, and uncertainty7. Thinking (linear and systemic): How individuals conceptualize8. Environment (harmony and control): How individuals view and relate