In intercultural communication, the term stereotype refers to some inflexible statements about a category of people, and these stereotypical statements are applied to all members of the group without regard for indivi...In intercultural communication, the term stereotype refers to some inflexible statements about a category of people, and these stereotypical statements are applied to all members of the group without regard for individual differences. It assumes that everyone from a group has certain characteristics and allows no room for individual differences, so it is by no means the same as information about another culture. Although stereotypes can be positive as well as negative, both types are equally distorting and destructive. So in this paper, the authors discuss what stereotypes mean, how they arise, why they are often inaccurate and even dangerous, and how to avoid and eliminate stereotypes in interactions with people from other cultures, so that people can carry out intercultural communications in a more effective way.展开更多
文摘In intercultural communication, the term stereotype refers to some inflexible statements about a category of people, and these stereotypical statements are applied to all members of the group without regard for individual differences. It assumes that everyone from a group has certain characteristics and allows no room for individual differences, so it is by no means the same as information about another culture. Although stereotypes can be positive as well as negative, both types are equally distorting and destructive. So in this paper, the authors discuss what stereotypes mean, how they arise, why they are often inaccurate and even dangerous, and how to avoid and eliminate stereotypes in interactions with people from other cultures, so that people can carry out intercultural communications in a more effective way.
