A Study on North American Stereotypes about the Chinese from the Perspective of

【Abstract】Without much understanding of different cultures， it is common for people to hold stereotypes， which， negative or positive， hamper intercultural communication. Some North Americans are also stereotyped toward Chinese. Geert Hofstede’s cultural dimensions can be employed to discuss the cultural elements under the surface of their stereotypes. To be a successful communicator in diverse cultural background， understanding of the target culture and being tolerant of the diversity are significant.

【Key words】Culture； Stereotype； Intercultural communication； Hofstede’s cultural dimensions

0 Introduction

With the development of economic globalization， it is of significance for practitioners in a wide variety of fields to communicate with people from different cultural background. In intercultural communication， learning others’ cultures is very significant and can help people overcome their stereotypes of other cultures. Without much understanding of different cultures， it is common for people to hold stereotypes about them. This study aims to find out how some north americans are stereotyped toward Chinese and help them overcome their stereotypes and help Chinese people understand our own culture thus makes the communication between these two parts smoother.

1 Description of the Study

In this study， one North American and two Chinese are involved. It took one-term-long time to collect the data. Data from the North American was mainly collected from our weekly emails. After analyzing the emails， several stereotypes were generalized. Later， interviews with the Chinese participants were made and the responses were recorded. Apart from the selected Chinese participants， two others were also interviewed. They were asked if they would accept the foreign partner’s perceptions about China and chinese. If they did not， they were further asked to give examples or make explanation. Then， communication with the foreign participants about the responses from the Chinese was made. This process would move in cycles until enough data was collected. Finally， the data was studied， analyzed and sorted carefully [1].

2 Findings and Discussions

From the emails of the North American， several stereotypes were generalized. However， in this paper only one will be discussed. That is： China has very strong government control over its people. As for this point， the Chinese participants’ responses can be generalized as the following： China does have relative strong government control over its people compared with U.S.A because of its special national conditions and state. China is of vast land and multi-ethnics and it needs strong government control over its people to ensure a stable society. But the same is true of the U.S.A， not just the case in China. China’s government control over its people is not as strong as our foreign friends think. China’s control over its people can also be seen in the government’s effort made for its people in front of large disasters. People have benefited a lot from such “control”， so we should have positive attitudes towards it. What’s more， Chinese culture has an authoritarian element， and people have got used to be controlled by authority. This was especially true in the past feudal society.

According to Hofstede’s dimension of power distance， how much the less powerful members of institutions and organizations expect and accept that power is distributed unequally. In cultures with small power distance （e.g. Australia， Israel， New Zealand）， people expect and accept power relations that are more consultative or democratic. In cultures with large power distance （e.g. Malaysia） the less powerful accept power relations that are autocratic or paternalistic. Subordinates acknowledge the power of others based on their formal， hierarchical positions. China is a country with much more power distance [2-3].

The word “very” indicates that in the North American’s eyes， China does have a very strong government control over its people than it actually deserves， while it’s not exact. According to Hofstede， China is a country with more power distance than North America. People in China， the less powerful， are easy to accept power relations and acknowledge the power of government. T And he reasons for the above seemingly true statements being the stereotypes are： （1） they fail to specify individual characteristics. They assumed that all members of a group have exactly the same traits. （2） they are oversimplified or over-generalized. （3） the use of “very” emphasizes strong feelings. （4） they are based on mass media such as movies and news reports.

3 Implications

If one fails to analyze diversity reasonably from cultural perspective， he may tend to develop a stereotype about it. Instead， if he knows its deep cultural elements behind the surface of each phenomenon， he may be tolerant about this diversity and even his stereotypes may submit to tolerance of diversity. It’s also very important for Chinese people to consider foreigners’ impression of us， to understand our own culture， and to learn their cultures.

【References】

[1]Anthony， L. & Yoshihisa， K. （2003）. How are stereotypes maintained through communications？ The influence of stereotype sharedness[J]. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology， 2002（85）：989-100.

[2]Hofstede， G. & Hofstede， G. J. Cultures and Organizations： Software for the Mind [M]. New York： McGraw-Hill Professional，1991.

[3]Larry A. Smovar， Richard E. Porter， Lisa A. Stefani. Communication between Cultures [M]. Beijing：Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press，1998.