Abstract: Family, one of the oldest human institutions, is the most basic unit of society and an essential link in the development of economy, politics and culture as well. Types of families existing in both China and America are very similar, but family relationships, the interpersonal relationships between family members, vary greatly from country to country due to the different cultural backgrounds. This thesis attempts to study the differences of family relationships between China and U.S.A and explore the cultural reasons for these differences. The aim of this study is to help people be aware of the cultural influences on family relations and promote family harmony.

　　　This paper consists of five parts. Part one serves as the introduction. Part two describes some definitions as to family and family relationship. Part three, the main part of the thesis, makes a contrastive study of the interpersonal relationships between family members in China and USA. The contrast mainly focuses on three kinds of relationships: husband-wife relationships, parent-child relationships and sibling relationships. Part four is about some possible problems in the Chinese and American family. Part five is the conclusion.

Key words：family；family relationship；family members；difference；culture.