Success / Réussite
gregory - 11:16am Oct 15, 2004
Le succès pour les américains dépend de leur capacité à se sentir bien. Par exemple, être en bonne santé pour un américain constitue une réussite. Pour un français, le succès passe par la notoriété, le travail, l'effort. Lorsque l'on obtient le succès (chose très bien défini par nos valeurs sociales) on appartient à l'élite. Cette différence s'exprime par la reconnaissance par rapports aux autres, alors que l'américain considère son succès par rapport à lui même; ce qu'il voulait accomplir.
Frances - 09:32pm Oct 16, 2004
I agree with your comments. The list compiled by the American students shows that success is defined primarily by personal goals and desires. French students tended to associate success with social importance, fame, etc.
I think perhaps this stems back to the American focus on individuality and independence. Throughout these word association lists, it seems that Americans often are very focused on themselves/their personal lives, whereas the French students show a greater emphasis on a "collective life" more influenced by societal ideals/demands. What do others think?
Xiaojie - 05:03pm Oct 17, 2004
I agree with Omoeleye and Gregory. The responses to the work 'success' illustrate the difference between American and French culture. In particular, the Americans focus more upon self satisfaction, while the French seem to strive for recognition from society. What does this constant striving for public approval do to ones self esteem?
It was also interesting to see that the French wrote 'academic acheivements,' while scholarly acheivements were not at all mentioned in the American column. Could this be because the French as a society place more of an emphasis on education, or respect teachers more than Americans? What do the French think of our education system?
Megan - 08:48pm Oct 17, 2004
I agree with Gregory's thoughts that in Americans don't necessarily equate success with hard work. As far as Frances' comments involving Americans focusing more on personal success, I disagree -- almost all of the words on both sides seem to refer to personal achievement rather than collective good. Also, I disagree with Xiaojie's comment that Americans focus more on self satisfaction while the French seem to strive for societal recognition because the things listed in the US column -- money, car, wealth, power, etc are in some sense the primary means of societal regonition in the US which causes people to continually push for more money, etc, even though it probably does not provide them with any more satisfaction.
Esther - 11:04pm Oct 17, 2004
I feel that both Americans and French have similar concepts of "success." In general, I think that both are striving for happiness and satisfaction in their lives. For some on both sides, the happiness and satisfaction comes from societal recognition that is achieved through power and wealth.
Aparna - 05:00am Oct 18, 2004
I agree with Frances. I think that for Americans, success is associated with personal comfort and happiness. Success, for the French, is the result of hard work and is seen as a means of improving one's social position.
jeremy - 03:22pm Oct 22, 2004
Tout à fait Aparna, je suis d'accord avec toi et avec Frances. La réussite 'américaine' s'apparente plus à des "personal goal".
J'ai assisté, en Califorinie, à des conférences dont les thèmes étaient, le succès, les cycles de l'argent, l'investissement, le développement personnel... Il y a énormément de meeting de ce type aux States alors qu'en France, il y en a très peu. C'est simplement que ce n'est pas dans notre culture.
Vive San Diego Style !
Megan - 11:18pm Oct 25, 2004
Does Americans emphasis on personal success mean that we're more satisfied with life and our definition of success is easier to attain? I was surprised to see that in a 2004 poll, 93% of Americans responded that they were satisfied with life -- is this the same in France?
Marie - 08:18am Oct 26, 2004
I'm going to quote Brian Mullins from a forum he wrote on "Money." He said that from a 2003 poll, 14% of French people said they were satisfied with life, while 57% of American people said they were satisfied with life. He thought this might have something to do with the prospect of becoming rich - Americans are happier because of this? It's true that I think of success as being satisfied with my life, and if the French associate success with money at times, then money may be linked to satisfaction with life. What do you all think of this interpretation?
jeremy - 07:58am Nov 9, 2004
Je trouve vos réponses, Megan and Marie, très interessantes. J'ai pris également connaissance de ce sondage, et j'avoue avoir été un peu surpris.
Pour répondre à Megan, je ne pense pas que le succès soit plus facile mais vous êtes dans un pays libéral. En France, il est plus difficile de monter un Business que dans votre pays. Nous avons beaucoup de contraintes !
Et effectivement, Marie, je pense qu'en France le succès est lié à l'argent, en tout cas plus qu'aux Etats Unis. J'ai écris un message sur ce sujet de l'argent. Si vous êtes intéressé, je vous invite à aller jeter un coup d'oeil. Mais à mon avis, tout est question de motivation, ne pensez vous pas ?
Vive San Diego style !