Ma Sen, a professor and playwright, says not, holding that so-called "ethnic character" is really just characteristics that people in a certain social environment will display; other ethnic groups would react similarly in a similar environment. The French writer Rolland Romain has said, "During the French Revolution, we also had many Ah-Qs. Ah-Q is a universal character."
劇作家及教授馬森不以為然，認為所謂「民族性」是一群人在某個特定社會環境下形成的特性，其他民族到了同一環境下也會有相同的反應，法國文豪羅曼羅蘭就曾說過，「法國大革命時我們也有很多阿Ｑ，阿Ｑ是世界性的。」