美国人价值观及其成因英文.docx

美国人价值观及其成因英文.docx

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美国人价值观及其成因英文

[收稿日期]2007..09..30

[作者简介]郭贇（1986..）,女,内蒙古师范大学外国语学院在读本科生。

..2007年11月内蒙古师范大学学报..（哲学社会科学版）Nov.,2007..

第36卷..第6期JournalofInnerMongoliaNormalUniversity（Philosophy&SocialScience）Vo.l36..No.6

美国人价值观及其成因

郭贇

（内蒙古师范大学外国语学院,内蒙古呼和浩特010022）

....[Abstract]..美国是一个移民国家,在其历史上共有两次持续时间较长的移民运动,来自欧洲、亚洲、非洲和美

洲的移民不仅带来他们的技术,而且也将其文化带入美国社会,这对美国人价值观和世界观的形成起了很大的影

响作用。

追求平等自由独立和自我是美国人价值观的核心组成部分,这些价值观的渊源既可上溯到清教文化,同

时,独立战争中发表的美国..独立宣言对其形成也产生了深远的影响。

[KeyWords]..美国;移民;核心价值观;..独立宣言

[中图分类号]D09....[文献标识码]A....[文章编号]1001..7623（2007）S1..0404..03

!

..AmericanValues

Americahasbeenplayinganimportantroleinour

worldsinceWorldWarII.Althoughitshistoryisonly

aboutthreehundredyearslong,itstillhasgreateffects

onmanyaspectsonothercountries.Unlikemostother

people,Americaisprimarilyanationofimmigrants.

Theirancestorsemigratedfrommanypartsofthe

globe.Thisgreatlyinfluencedtheideasandvalueson

whichAmericanarebased.

1..DevelopmentofAmericanValues.Asanimmi..

gratedcountry,Americanvaluesaredifferentfromoth..

ercountries.Variousethnicities,differentreligions

andsomeotherpeculiaritiesleadtodifferentvalues.

What.smore,thevaluesalsochangeindifferenttime

periods.Soaccordingtothetimeline,therearethree

mainstreamvaluesinAmericansociety,whichareTra..

ditionalvalue,Modernvalue,andPost-modernval..

ue.

#.TraditionalValue.Thetimeframeoftradition..

alvalueisupto1700s.Priestsarethemostinfluential

peopleforthosewhoholdthisbelie.fTheybelievethat

humanbeingisGod.screationinGod.simage-bear..

er.Sotheyareinclinedtopreservethepastandobey

theauthorities.Theyalsothinkthathumanbeingsare

createdgood,butgraduallyhasfallenandpeoplehave

beenseparatedfromGodbysin.Soinordertorecon..

ciletoGodbyJesus,theyemphasizemoreonmorality

andhaveverystrictself-disciplines.Theysincerely

believethatGodandhiswordsintheBiblehavede..

finedtheirmorality.Generallyspeaking,Traditional

valueismoreconservativeandhierarchica.l

..ModernValue.Modernvaluestartedfrom

1875andnowisverycommoninAmerican.Theybe..

lieveinscienceandtreatscientistsasthemostinfluen..

tialpeople.ComparingtoTraditionalvalue,theythink

thathumanbeingsarejustrandomchancebeings,in..

steadofbeingcreatedbyGod.Sotheywanttoimprove

thepastbytheirownthinking.Ontheotherhand,

theyalsodaretoquestiontheauthority.Becausein

theiropinions,knowledgeisfromwhatpeoplediscover

butnotwhatGodsays.Asforthem,chaosishumans.

basicproblem,andinordertosolvethis,theywantto

prolongtheirlifeandseizeeveryday.Astomorality,

theyacknowledgeitasahumanconstruc,ttherefore

peoplecanhavetheirownmoralities.

%.Post-modernValue.Post-modernvaluebe..

ginsin1960.ItisalsocalledPopculture,because

somerockstarsleadthefashionandinfluencepeople

quitealo.tForthesepeople,theyareinclinedtoig..

norethepastandtheydon.tcountonauthorityforob..

tainingknowledge.Theyjustwanttoknoweverything

&404&

fromtheirownexperiences.Intheiropinions,every..

bodyisequa,lnomatterforapresidentorahomeless

person.Theytreatthemselvesastheirownauthorities,

sotheydonotneedtoobeyothers.orders.However

theyaresometimepessimisticbecausetheycannot

knoweverythingabsolutely.Astothem,thebasic

problemistheydonothaveenoughtolerancebecause

theycaretoomuchaboutpersonalstoriesandthink

thatcertaincommunitiescandefinemorals.

2..CoreValues.Americansocietyisbasicallyfoun..

dedontheprinciplesofequality,liberty,pursuitof

happinessandpioneeringspiri.tAmericanpeoplere..

gardthesevaluesveryhighlyandcherishthemastheir

nationalspirits.

#.Equality.EqualityisthebasicbeliefinAmer..

icanvalues,justastheDeclarationofIndependence

said,.Allmenarecreatedequa,lthattheyareen..

dowedbytheirCreatorwithcertaininalienablerights（.

Sointheireyesallpeopleareequalandhavetheirown

values,andnooneisbornsuperiortoanyoneelse.

Onceababyisborn,hebeginstohavevalue.God

createshim,soheisuniqueinthisworld.Evenfora

homelessperson,heisstillinthesamelevelaspeople

withhighstatus.Godloveseveryperson.Hewillnot

lookdownuponsomebodyonlybecauseofhisstatus.

Theyhavetheirownunderstandingsofthingsthatseem

inequality:

.Ourwealthisunequaled,butJesustaught

thatourfaithshouldmakewealthmeaningless（.InA..

mericanhistory,therearemanysocialmovements

whoseaimistogetequality,suchasthewomen.s

movemen.tItwasstartedbythreegroupsofwomen,

whothoughtwomenwerediscriminatedinthesociety

andwantedtofightfortheirequalrights.Thewomen.

smovementgainsmanyrightsandopportunitiesfor

women.

Howeverinthemid-1990s,thenumberof

womeninleadershipingovernmentandbusinesscorpo..

rationsisstillverylow.Butwecanstillseethat

women.spositionhasbeenimprovedalotsincethen.

MostAmericansdaretospeakoutalltheirideasdirect..

lyandneednotconsideraboutothers.opinions.Eve..

ryoneisequa,lsoeveryonecandowhatevertheywant

todo,sowecansaythatequalityisoneofthecore

valuesinAmericanculture.

..Liberty.ThesecondcorevalueofAmericais

liberty,whichisalsothebasicpointintheDeclaration

ofIndependenceandAmericanhistory.SinceChristo..

pherColumbusdiscoveredthenewlandin1492,A..

mericanpeoplehavebeensufferingalotfromcolonial

rulefornearly300years,howevertheyneverstopped

theirstruggleforlibertyduringthisperiodoftime.Af..

terAmericagainedindependencefromcolonialrule,

libertyisstillanationalpursuitforAmericanpeople.

TheCivilRightsMovementandFreeSpeechMovement

bothdemonstratethispoin.tLegalsegregationending

intheSouth,theU.S.signingapeacetreatyin1973,

andpeoplegettingfreedomofspeechareallachieve..

mentsofAmericanpeople.spursuitofliberty.

%.IndependenceandIndividualism.Formost

people,independenceandindividualismarethefirst

twowordsthatcomeintotheirmindswhentheytalka..

boutAmericans.TheonevaluethatnearlyeveryA..

mericanwouldagreeuponisindividualfreedom.

Whetheryoucallitindividualfreedom,individualism,

orindependence,itisthecornofAmericanvalues.It

influencesnearlyeveryaspectoftheirsociety.The

conceptofindividualismalsoaffectsthetypeofgovern..

mentsomuchthatindividualrightsarealsoguaranteed

intheUnitedStatesConstitution..Theserightsareso

protectedinourjudicialsystemtha,teventhoughA..

mericansmaycomplainthatcriminalssometimes）get

awaywithmurder,.mostpeoplebelieveitisbetterto

freeafewguiltypersonsthantoimprisononeperson

whoisinnocent（.

MostAmericanshavetheirownpersonalspaces

andusuallytheydonotwantotherstogetinvolvedin

theirpersonalaffairs.Ingenera,lmostAmericansex..

presstheirideasdirectly,withouttoomuchconsidera..

tion.Theycaremoreabouttheirownfeelingsinstead

ofothers.opinions.Inaddition,Americanpeoplepre..

fertorelyontheirownefforts.Theyareinclinedto

createeverythingbythemselves,sotheyhighlyvalue

self-reliance.Ofcourseit.sdifferentfromwhatwe

callselfishness.Itisanexpressionofequality,liber..

ty,andindependenceandthereasonwhyAmerican

peoplecaresomuchaboutthisisjusttheirpursuitof

equalityandliberty.

PrivacyisalsoofgreatsignificancetoAmericans.

Theindividualprivacymaymakeitdifficulttomake

friends.BecauseAmericansrespecttheirownprivacy,

theymaynotliketogotoapersonandsay.hello（.

AlthoughmanyAmericansaremuchopenerthanChi..

nesepeople,theyarestillnotsofriendlyandhospita..

bleasChinese.

..Thepioneeringspiri.tThepioneeringspiritof

theearlyimmigrantsisalsoanimportantAmerican

trai.tAlwaysattractedtothenewandfreshthings,A..

mericansconstantlymovealo.tTheynotonlytravel

&405&

郭贇/AmericanValueandItsOrigin

fromplacetoplaceinsearchforabetterlife,butalso

trytoraisethesocialhierarchybecausetheycherish

theAmericanDreamsomuch.

+..TheOriginsofAmericanValues

Americanmainstreamcultureisdevelopedfrom

whatisknownas.WASP（culture,whichisWhite

Anglo-SaxonProtestan.tSogenerallyspeaking,there

aretwomainfactorsthataffectAmericanvaluesquite

much,andtheyaretheimmigrationofPuritansandthe

DeclarationofIndependence.

1..TheImmigrationofPuritans.In17thcentury,a

groupofpeoplethoughtthattheChurchofEnglandwas

tooCatholicandtheywantedtopurifytheChurch.

HowevertheirbeliefswerehereticaltotheChurchof

England,sotheyhadtoleavetherebecausetheywere

religiouslypersecuted.In1620,onehundredandtwo

peoplereachedNorthAmericaandbegannewlifethere

fromthenon.Theyhopedtobuildacityuponahillan

idealcommunity,whichwasequa,lfree,andwith..

outpersecution.Aftertheycame,theystruggledvery

hard