How and why do English and Chinese speakers answer the negative questions differently?
In English "yes" goes with a positive answer and "no" goes with a negative answer.This means that it makes no difference whether a positive or negative question is answered.In Chinese, however,对 goes with a negative answer,and 不 goes with a positive answer when a negative question is answered.Chinese speakers, when answering a negative question,are strongly affeced by the environment,while English speakers,supporter of individualism,are not.Thus the difference found in answers to negative questions between English and Chinese can be related to the contrast between individualistic and environmentalistic cultures.
