Cultural Stereotype And Its Impact On Intercultural Communication

The number of international students in China has been increasing year by year and the impact of intergroup cultural stereotype on intercultural communication has been a matter of concern.Based on the intergroup contact theory and the stereotype content model,questionnaire and interview as the research instruments were adopted in this study to investigate international students' cultural stereotypes and communication attitudes toward Chinese students before and after they came to China.The research findings show that there is no significant difference between international students' cultural stereotypes before and after they came to China.While there is a significant positive correlation between knowledge about target culture and cultural stereotypes toward the culture,general intercultural communication knowledge and formal training have no statistically significant effects on stereotypes.And it also demonstrates that cultural stereotype correlates significantly with the intercultural communication attitude.And the length of staying in a country significantly influences people's tolerance and inclusiveness on cultural differences.Finally,it finds that controlling negative stereotypes is a key competence for a successful intercultural communication.This study provides reference for understanding the stereotype existing in interpersonal contact and practical suggestions for improving the positive effect of cultural stereotype from the governmental,institutional and individual levels respectively.Furthermore,this research improves the stereotype content model and enriches the empirical studies of intercultural communication theories.