An Empirical Study on Different Tendencies toward Indulgence-Restraint Dimension from the Intercultural Perspective —In the Case of Guangdong Province

doi:10.4236/chnstd.2015.44017

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Chinese Studies, 2015, 4, 116-126

Published Online November 2015 in SciRes. http://www.scirp.org/journal/chnstd

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How to cite this paper: Cai Jie, & Luo Jing (2015). An Empirical Study on Different Tendencies toward Indulgence-Restraint

Dimension from the Intercultural Perspective. Chinese Studies, 4, 116-126. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/chnstd.2015.44017

An Empirical Study on Different Tendencies

toward Indulgence-Restraint Dimension

from the Intercultural Perspective

—In the Case of Guangdong Province

Cai Jie, Luo Jing*

Shenzhen Tourism College, Jinan University, Shenzhen, China

Received 14 August 2015; accepted 13 November 2015; published 16 November 2015

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY).

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Abstract

With the booming development of economic globalization nowadays, intercultural communication

becomes more and more important. Based on Hofstede’s indulgence-restraint dimension, this the-

sis aims to testify whether Hofstede’s opinion that China is largely a restrained country, is correct

in Guangdong Province, a coastal area with the largest population of China, and to investigate dif-

ferent groups of people’s different tendencies toward indulgence and restraint. The study is car-

ried out in Guangdong Province, because Guangdong is a special area which is one of the most ra-

pidly developing areas in China and it locates next to Macau and Hong Kong, which may bring it

with more different cultures and ideas. After conducting a questionnaire survey in Guangdong

with a self-made questionnaire, the author gets the following findings. 1) The subjects generally

show a stronger tendency toward indulgence than to restraint through comparing the mean

scores of them respectively. 2) With respect to genders, males have fewer tendencies toward in-

dulgence than females and more tendencies toward restraint. 3) Considering age groups, people

aged more have more tendencies toward restraint and fewer tendencies toward indulgence.

What’s more, people aged from 18 to 60 are generally indulgence-oriented while people aged

above 60 years old are generally restraint-oriented. 4) People with different disposable income

groups and different educational backgrounds have no significant difference in general. All of

them, generally, tend to be indulgent. The results of the study can help both foreign and local

people to know more about Guangdong so as to enhance the mutual understanding to improve

communication efficiency and help construct a harmonious society.

Keywords

Intercultural Communication, Indulgence, Restraint, Guangdong Province

*Corresponding a uthor.

Cai J., Luo J.

117

1. Introduction

With the booming development of global economy nowadays, people travel around the world to do business, to

have fun, to study, etc. However, due to the different cultures, people may find intercultural communication dif-

ficult.

Thus, many scholars have focused a lot on the study of intercultural communication. Intercultural communi-

cation study originated from the USA. As early as in 1959, Edward T. Hall published Silent Language, the fa m-

ous book, which is usually regarded as the foundational work in the cross-cultural field, marking th e beginning

of intercultural study.

Hofstede, a Dutch management scholar, initially carried out a survey about cultural value among around

110,000 employees from 40 nation s in IBM at the end of 1970s. Afte r a detailed analysis o f the data by statistic-

al method, Geert Hofstede (1980) originally identified four cultural dimensions: 1) power distance; 2) uncer-

tainty avoidance; 3) indiv idualism-collectivism; 4) masculinity-femininity. And Hofstede’s study kept going. In

1987, he put forward the fifth dimension, which is “long-term/short-term orientation”. In 2010, the sixth and the

latest dimension were carried out, the indulgence-restraint dimension.

In the theoretical framework of Hofstede, the present study mainly aims to testify if Guangdong Province with

its fast economic development, special policies and location, is largely a restraint-oriented area as Hofstde de-

fined China to be. What’s more, this study also aims to explore the different tendencies toward IVR by different

groups of people at different layers.

The significance of the study lies as below:

Firstly, the thesis can, to some extends, change the foreigners’ stereotype toward people in Guangdong and

help them have a full understanding of Guangdong cultural value to promote the mutual understanding of people

from differe nt c ul t ures.

Secondly, the exploration of the different orientations between different groups of people toward the IVR di-

mension may enhance the mutual understanding and reduce the disagreement between different people.

To conclude, a clear realization of different tendencies toward IVR dimension of Guangdong Province plays

an important role in successful intercultural communication, which can enhance the mutual understanding, im-

prove working efficiency and he l p c onstruct a ha rmonious soc iety.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Hofstede’s Value Dimension Theory

In 1980, after doing the comprehensive study on how values were influenced by culture in the workplace by in-

vestigating more than 100,000 individuals from 53 countries and regions, Hofstede published his finding, a

theory of cultural value dimensions, which included individualism-collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, power

distance, and masculinity-femininity. The fifth dimension, long-term/short-term orientation, was put forward in

1987.

It’s also worth mentioning that Harry C. Triandis (1988) published his Cross-Cultural Studies of Individual-

ism and Collectivism. In his research, Triandis found that orientations toward individualism and collectivism not

only existed between different cultures but also within one culture, even within each society and each individual.

In 2010, based on Minkov’s analysis of data from the World Value Survey, a new dimension was found,

which was called indulgence-restraint dimension. It becomes the latest dimension of Hofstede’s Value Dimen-

sion Theory. Among the 93 countries that Geert Hofstede and Michael Minkov (2010) calculated the IVR, Chi-

na ranks 75, w hich means that generally China is a restrained culture.

Thus, in this study, the author supposes that the orientations towards IVR also exist within one culture, one

society and one individu a l and trie s to prove it in the empirical stu dy.

2.2. Definition of Indulgence versus Restraint (IVR)

According to Hof stede (2010), the definition of IV R dimens ion is that,

Indulgence stands for a tendency to allow relatively free gratification of basic and natural human desires

related to enjoying life and having fun. Its opposite pole, restraint, ref lects a conviction that such gratifica-

tion needs to be curbed and regulated by strict social norms (Hofstede, 281).

Cai J., Luo J.

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And it should be noted that the gratification of desires on the indulgence side refers to enjoying life and hav-

ing fun, not t o gr a t i f y i ng human desires in gene ra l .

Thus, one of the two poles of this dimension is characterized by a perception that one can act as one pleases

and indulge in leisurely and fun-related activities with friends or alone. At the other pole we find a perception

that one’s actions are restrained by various social norms and a feeling that leisurely activities, spending, and

other similar types of indulgence are somewhat wrong.

In spite of Hofstede’s IVR dimension, some other related studies have also been carried out. Some of them

share some similarities with IVR, and some of them use IVR to correlate w ith some cultural behaviors and phe-

nomena and explain them.

Michael Bond’s (1992) Chinese Value Survey reported a dimension labeled “moral discipline”. One of its

poles was “moral restraint” and the other is “lack of a strongly disciplined stance”. As quoted by Hofstede,

The items that defined the positive pole of this dimension were ‘moderation’, ‘keeping oneself disinterested

and pure’, and ‘having few desires’. As these items are easy to associate with restraint, one would expect a

negative correlati on wi th indulgenc e (Hofstede , 288).

In 2004, Bond (2004) did another research on what he called social axioms with his associates. They got two

cultural dimensions, one of which was called “societal cynicism”, which is significantly and negatively corre-

lated with IVR. Ulrich Schimmack and Ed Diener (2002) did a survey on how often people experience pleasant

and unpleasant emotions and 6780 college students were involved. The result showed that students in more in-

dulgent societies reported more often experiencing positive emotions. David Schimitt (2005) founded the Inter-

national Sexuality Description Project and one of the cultural studies was sociosexuality. It turned out that

“more indulgent societies have higher percentage of people who have nothing against lax norms concerning ca-

sual sex”.

As for domestic literatures, Fang Ning (2009) carried out an exploratory study on the cultural values of Chi-

na’s post-1980s generation to examine the effects of nationality, employment, gender and age with Hofstede’s

latest VSM08. Sun Qing yan (2013 ) carried out an empirical study to investigate the cultural changes in China in

the aspects of Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Indulgence and Context. Fu Yuxia (2013) did an empir-

ical study on different tendencies of different groups of peop le toward individualism-collectivism dimension by

interview and questionnaires, which provided helpful experience and methodology for this study.

As shown above, most of the related literatures are about the correlation between IVR and different cultural

phenomena. There isn’t any empirical study about IVR. However, this doesn’t mean that there’s no instructive

study for the author. The methodology that Yuxia Fu used in her thesis is useful enough to provide the author

with practical ins tru c tions.

3. Methodology

3.1. Different Defining Attributes of IVR

According to Hofstede and Minkov, some differences between indulgent and restrained societies are summa-

rized in Table 1.

Table 1. Major differences between in dulgent and restrained societies.

Indulgent Society Restrained Society

A perception of personal life control

A perception of helplessness: what happens to me is not my own doing.

Higher importance of leisure Lower importance of leisure

Higher importance of having frie nds

Lower importance of having friends

Thrift is not ve ry important.

Thrift is important.

Loose society Tight society

More likely to remember positive emotions

Less likely to remember positive emotions

Less moral discipline

Moral discipline

Positive attitude Cynicism

More extroverted personalities

More neurotic personalities

Higher optimism

More pessimism

Maintaining order in the nation is not given a high priority Maintaining order in the nation is considered a high priority

Cai J., Luo J.

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3.2. Research Questions

The present thesis aims to answer the following questions:

1) Is the opinion by Hofstede that China is largely a restraint country, correct in Guangdong Province with the

largest po pulation o f China?

2) Do different orientations toward IVR exist between males and females? And what is the tendency?

3) Do different orientations toward IVR exist between people with different levels of disposable income? And

what is the tendency?

4) Do different orientations toward IVR exist between people from different age groups? And what is the

tendency?

5) Do different orientations toward IVR exist between people from different education background? And

what is the tendenc y?

In order to answer the five questions above, the author has conducted an experimental research with a self-

made questionnaire.

3.3. Subject s

Guangdong is chosen to be the targeted area of this study because of its particularity. Since the reform and

opening policies have been carried out, China has experienced big changes, especially the coastal areas of China,

such as Guangdong. With the rapid economic development, Guangdong has attracted people all around China,

or we can s ay, all around the world to live and work here. It provides a multicultural environment of people liv-

ing in Guangdong. On the other hand, being located next to Hong Kong and Macau makes its location special.

Thus, the author wants to study on the IVR of people in Guangdong, such an open and special area.

Among the 158 questionnaires the author has handed out, there are 150 of them are valid. As the author’s in-

teractive circle is mainly in the west, the east and the south of Guangdong province, most of the questionnaires

were handed out in these areas. In order to ensure the diversity of backgrounds of the subjects, the 150 subjects

involved in the survey are mainly composed of college students, the parents of them and the friends of the par-

ents. What’s more, some people are also asked to finish the questionnaire in some public areas of Guangdong,

such as public parks, supermarkets, etc. The brief information of the subjects is presented in Table 2.

3.4. Design of the Questionnaire

Based on the indulgence-restraint dimension of Hofstede’s Value Dimension Theory, the questionnaire is di-

vided into two parts named part A and part B, which are respectively related to indulgence and restraint. As in-

dulgence-restraint orientation is assumed to exist in every individual, we thus need to compare the scores of

each part and decide whether the individual is more indulgent or more restrained. What’s more, in each part of

the questionnaire, there are three aspects of life related with the statements, which are interpersonal relation,

working style and personal life.

In the experiment, the respondents are asked to choose the most appropriate answer among the five provided

answers which vary from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree” with scores on the scale of 1 to 5. Participants

are familiar with the life-related settings, so they can instinctively decide on the most appropriate answer with

their personal experience.

The study also intends to further check the specific and detailed different IVR orientations. So four variables

are determined, which are genders, age groups, disposable income levels and educational bac kgrounds.

The experiment was carried out mainly by Wechat, the most popular on-line chatting tool in China. As most

of the old don’t use Wechat, the author also did the survey face to face in some public parks and supermarkets,

Table 2. Information of the subjects.

Group

Gender Age Disposable Income

(yuan per month) Education

Male Female 18 - 30 31 - 45 46 - 60 Above

60 Below

2500 2500 - 5000 Above

5000

Below

Vocational

College

Vocational

College

and Above

Number 63 87 72 33 25 20 69 52 29 38 112

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where many old people could be found. At last, 158 questionnaires were completed, 150 of which are valid for

the experiment. All the collected data was analyzed by using SPSS and Excel. The detailed results and data

analysis will be reported in following part.

4. Findings and Discussion

This part mainly focuses on the detailed analyzed data, answering the specific research questions which are

raised in the former part and tries to give reasonable explanations .

4.1. A General Comparison between All the Subjects

In the column 2 of Table 3, we can find that the means scores of part A and B of the 150 subjects are respec-

tively 22.833 an d 20.467. It means that the mean score of part A toward indulgence is slightly higher than that of

part B toward restraint. In column 4, the significance (2-tailed) value is 0.000, much smaller than 0.05. Accord-

ing to the principle of statistics, if P is smaller than 0.05, the diff erence is significant. Thus, the statistic s is mea-

ningful to the study. It indicates that people living in Guangdong generally display a tendency toward indul-

gence, which is different from Hofstede’s point of view that Chinese people are generally restrained. According

to the data, the mean score of each part is higher than the mid-point of the full score, which is 15, indicating that

these subjects present obvious tendencies toward bot h sides of orientations .

Since the reform and opening policies were carried out, China has experienced big changes, especially the

coastal areas of China, such as Guangdong. With the rapid economic development, Guangdong has attracted

people to live and work here. That provides a multicultural environment for people living in Guangdong. On the

other hand, being located next to Hong Kong and Macau is another main factor. Thus, the culture of Guangdong

has been changing from a restraint-oriented one, like the general of China, to a slightly indulgence-oriented one.

According to the third column of Table 4 , the correlation value is −0.11, which means there is a negative re-

lationship between the scores of part A and part B, but the negative relationship is not significant enough, be-

cause −0.11 is slightly less than 0. It indicates that an individual who gets a high mark on indulgence may not

necessarily get low mark on restrain t, and vice versa.

Seeing from the second row of Table 5, we can find that there are 102 subjects whose indulgent scores are

higher than restraint scores, of which 86 subjects’ scores of IVR are both higher than 15. 16 subjects’ indulgent

scores are higher than 15 whereas the restraint scores are lower than 15. The third row of the table shows that

there are 39 subjects whose indulgent scores are lower than the restraint scores. Among them, 31 subjects’

scores of part A & B are both higher than 15, while 8 subjects’ indulgent scores are smaller than or equal to 15

and their restraint scores are higher than 15. Finally we can find from the fourth row that there are only 9 sub-

jects having the same score in both parts and the scores are both higher than 15.

The findings from Table 5 show that: 1) 68% of the subjects display more obvious tendency to indulgence

than to restraint. 16 subjects show a much stronger tendency toward indulgence. 2) Only 39 subjects, 26% of all,

show a more obvious tendency toward restraint than toward indulgence. 3) 126 subjects’ scores of I and R are

both higher than 15, the mid-point of the full score, which means that they have tendencies both to indulgence

and to restraint.

The result has answered the first question mentioned in part three. Hofstede’s opinion that China is largely a

Table 3. Comparison within all subjects.

Part N Mean Score P

A 150 22.833 0.000

B 150 20.467

Notes: A & B is for part A & B of the questionnair e. N is for the number of the subjects.

Table 4. Correlation analysis between part A & B.

Pair N Correlation

A & B 150 −0.11

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restraint country now is not correct in Guangdong Province. It also indicates that tendencies toward indulgence

and restraint also exist in an individual for there are individuals who behave both indulgently and restrainedly

and who behave either indulgently or restrainedly.

4.2. Comparative Study between Genders

In this part, the author aims to find out the different tendencies toward IVR from the perspective of genders.

4.2.1. Findings between Genders

As Ta ble 6 shows, the values of P are both 0.000 in the two parts, which are lower than 0.05. It implicates that

there is significant difference between males and females in part A and part B. The mean scores of males and

females in part A are 19.286 and 23.230 respectively, which indicate that males have less tendencies toward in-

dulgence than females. In part B, the mean scores of males and females are respectively 21.508 and 17.713,

which mean that males have more tendencies toward restraint.

4.2.2. Data Analysis between Genders

According to Hofstede (1980), China belongs to masculine society and most men in China have owned higher

social status and more responsibilities in the family and society due to their special social roles since long ago.

Even though Guangdong is the forefront of the reform and opening policy, traditional ideas about males and

Table 5. Different tendencies within all subjects.

Type N Percent

I > R

I > 15 R > 15 86 0.573

I < 15 R < 15 0 0

I > 15 R ≤ 15 16 0.107

Total 102 0.680

I < R

I > 15 R > 15 31 0.207

I < 15 R < 15 0 0

I ≤ 15 R > 15 8 0.053

Total 39 0.260

I = R

I > 15 R > 15 9 0.060

I < 15 R < 15 0 0

I = 15 R = 15 0 0

Total 9 0.060

Total 150 1

Notes: I > R: Indulgence score is higher than restraint score. I < R: Indulgence score is lower than restraint score. I = R:

Indulgence score is equal to restraint score. N: Number of the corresponding subj ects.

Table 6. General difference between genders.

Part Option Mean P

A 1 19.286 0.000

2 23.230

B 1 21.508 0.000

2 17.713

Notes: A : part A of the questionnaire. B: part B of the questionnaire. 1: males. 2: females.

Cai J., Luo J.

122

females haven’t changed a lot. With the development of the economy and the growing cost of living, men are

faced with more and more pressure, which can explain men’s stronger tendencies toward restraint and weaker

tendencies toward indulgence compared with women.

On the other hand, the role of women has actually changed. As women are getting further education, they are

getting a better job and higher status in the society, which offers them more opportunities to choose the life they

want. Thus, according to the statistics, women in Guangdong are changing the traditional stereotypes about

Chinese females. They are even getting more indulgence-oriented compared with men in Guangdong.

4.3. Comparative Study between Different Age Groups

In this chapter, the author intends to find out the different orientations toward IVR dimension from angle of dif-

ferent age groups, including 18 - 30 years old, 31 - 45 years old, 46 - 60 years old and above 60 years old.

4.3.1. Findings between Different Age Groups

As we can see from Table 7, the values of P in part A and B are respectively 0.014 and 0.042, which are both

lower than 0.05 and mean that there are signific ant differences among the subjects. What’s more, we can find in

the table that the mean scores of group 1, 2 and 3 in part A are higher than those in part B, while the mean scores

of group 4 in part A are lower than those in part B. That is to say, that people aged from 18 - 60 hav e more t en-

dencies toward indulgence, while people aged above 60 have more tendencies toward restraint.

4.3.2. Data Analysis between Different Age Grou ps

Figure 1 is formed by the data the author got in Table 7. It shows a specific and vivid comparison between the

Table 7. General difference between different age groups.

Part Option M P

1 25.333

0.014

2 23.963

3 22.947

4 17.750

1 20.486

0.042

2 21.667

3 22.105

4 25.000

Notes: 1: 18 - 30 y; 2: 31 - 45 y; 3: 46 - 60 y; 4: above 60 y.

Figure 1. Comparisons between the mean scores of different age groups in different parts.

18-30y

31-45y

46-60y

abov e 60y

Part A

Part B

Cai J., Luo J.

123

mean scores of different age groups in different parts. The black pillar refers to the mean score of part A, while

the grey pillar represents the mean score of part B. Thus, we can obviously find from the figure that: 1) The old-

er people are, the less indulgent and the more restrained they become. 2) People aged from 18 to 60 have more

tendencies toward indulgence, while people aged above 60 years old have more tendencies toward restraint.

Subjects in group 1, aged from 18 to 30, are China’s post-1985 generation. They were born after the launch-

ing of the Reform and Opening-up Policy in 1978 and the practice of One Child Policy in 1979. They were

mostly brought up in the one-child family and grew up in the period of rapid economic development. On the one

hand, they grow up in the indulgence from parents and grandparents. On the other hand, they have a broader ho-

rizon of the world. As a result, they tend to be the most indulgent group compared with the other three groups.

Subjects in group 2 and 3 were mostly born after 1970s and 1960s. It’s the generation linking the preceding

and the following and wandering between tradition and modernity. When they were in their childhood, they

were taught that personal interest should be restrained to achieve other greater goals, such as living in a thrift

way to save money for the future. Things began to change when they became teenagers or in their twenties in

the late 1980s. With a better economic environment and foreign ideas rushing into their mind due to the reform

and opening-up policy, they realized that the pursuit of happiness and enjoying life are one’s individual rights

and indulgence is acceptable. Therefore, they also have more tendencies toward indulgence, but the tendencies

are weaker compared with those of group 1.

In group 4, subjects were mainly born after 1950s in big families. Life was tougher in most of their life and

they are more close-minded. Thus, this group tend s to restrain themselves. Even now their life is getting better;

they still tend to be restrained instead of being indulgent, just as it’s become something deeply rooted in their

mind.

4.4. Comparative Study between People with Different Disposable Incomes and

Different Educational Backgrounds

4.4.1. Findings between People with Different Disposable Incomes

Table 8 shows that in part A and B, there are no significant differences between different disposable incomes

levels, because the values of P are respectively 0.061 and 0.524, which are both higher than 0.05. What’s more,

the mean scores of this restraint part are very close to each other. However, the data indicates that all the sub-

jects in different disposable incomes levels show a tendency toward indulgence because the mean scores in part

A are all higher than those in part B. That is to say that, no matter how much disposable income the subjects get

every month, they tend to be indulgent.

4.4.2. Findings between People with Different Educational Backgrounds

Table 9 shows that the value of P in the indulgence-oriented part is 0.065, higher than 0.05, and so is it in the

restraint-oriented part (0.089). It means that both educational backgrounds show no significant difference in in-

dulgence and restraint. It can be concluded by comparing the mean scores that the general subjects have tenden-

cies toward indulgence.

Table 8. General difference between people with different disposable incomes.

Part Option M P

1 23.130

0.061

2 21.865

3 23.862

1 20.507

0.524

2 20.538

3 20.241

Notes: 1: below 2500 y ua n per m ont h; 2: 2 50 0 - 5000 yuan per month; 3: above 5000 yuan per month .

Cai J., Luo J.

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Table 9. General difference between people with different educational backgrounds.

Part Option M P

A 1 22.368 0.065

2 23.009

B 1 21.868 0.089

2 18.991

Notes: 1 : less th a n voc at ional college; 2: v oca ti o nal co ll ege a nd a bove .

4.4.3. Data Analysis between People with Different Disposable Incomes and Different Educational

Backgrounds

According to the data shown in Table 8 and Table 9, subjects with different disposable income and different

educational backgrounds have no significant differences in general. And they generally have the tendency to-

wards indulgence.

With the rapid development of Guangdong, people’s living standard has increased. Thus, the disposable in-

come doesn’t significantly affect people’s behavior in IVR. For example, even though people with lower dis-

posable income cannot afford luxury goods, which may be regarded as one of the ways of indulgence, they still

live a comparatively indulgent life in their way, such as being together with whom they love or buying some-

thing they want, which doesn’t have to be very expensive. It’s also the same reason for people with different

educational backgr ou nds.

All in all, in a rapidly developing and opened area like Guangdong, no matter how people are comparatively

rich or poor, comparatively high or low educated, they generally behave in a comparatively indulgence-oriented

way.

5. Conclusions

Based on Hofstede’s value dimension theory, the following findings are produced by analyzing the data in the

present study.

First of all, the subjects generally show a slightly stronger tendency toward indulgence than to restraint. Thus,

the idea that China is largely a restraint country is incorrect in Guangdong Province. With respect to genders,

males have fewer tendencies toward indulgence and more tendencies toward restraint than females. Considering

age groups, older people have more tendencies toward restraint and fewer tendencies toward indulgence. What’s

more, people aged from 18 to 60 are generally indulgence-oriented while people aged above 60 years old are

generally restraint-oriented. It is also found that people with different disposable incomes and educational back-

grounds have no significant difference in general. All of them, generally, tend to be indulgent.

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Appendix

Questionnaire about Guangdong People’s Different Tendencies toward IVR

Thank you for your cooperation! As this questionnaire is anonymous, your answer is only for academic research

without for any other purpose. According to your actual situation, please choose the most suitable answer and

provide your real gender, age, disposable income and educational background. Scores range from 5 to 1 accord-

ing to different options. Thank you!

Basic Information:

1. Are you G u a ngdong inha b itant?

Yes ____ No ____

2. Gend er:

Female ____ Male ____

3. Age gro up:

18 - 30 years old ____ 31 - 45 years old ____

46 - 60 years old ____ above 60 years old____

4. Monthly disposable income level (If student, please choose your monthly consumption level):

less than 2500 Yu an __ __ 2500 - 5000 Yuan ____ more than 5000 Yuan__ _ _

5. Educational background:

below vocational college ____ vocational college and above ____

Part A

1. I can decide on my life partner and I think that choosing the one I love is the most important thing.