Cultural and psychological peculiarities of attitude to health among Russian and Chinese students

The results of empirical study of correlation of socio-cultural and personal characteristics with the attitudes to their own health among Russian (n = 103) and Chinese (n = 182) students are presented. There were cross-cultural differences: Chinese students have higher indices of social capital and long-term orientation while Russian students show autonomous motivation of behavior with respect to their health. Women's attitudes to their health in both samples were more positive then men's ones. Such indices of social capital as the level and radius of trust, significance of ethnic and civic identity are mated with positive attitudes towards health in both samples. Autonomous motivation of behavior is correlated with positive attitudes to health in Russian sample.