Communication Across Cultures: The Role of Stereotypes in Intercultural Communication

This essay explores the effectiveness of stereotypes in maintaining intercultural communication. Critical analysis is conducted on the role played by stereotype in facilitating and hindering cultural communication.

Running head: COMMUNICATION ACROSS CULTURES
Communication across cultures
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

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COMMUNICATION ACROSS CULTURES
Introduction
In the era of globalisation, it is important to maintain intercultural communication so
that interactive skills can be developed so that economic exchange between nations can take
place. Intercultural communication can be defined as a communication method that can help
people with different communication methods to exchange and share information,
knowledge, sentiments and experiences1. Intercultural communication also plays a crucial
role in establishing favourable intergroup relations. In order to ensure that proper intercultural
communication is maintained, various researches were conducted to identify the linguistic
and cultural barriers that may hinder the progress. Stereotyping is one of the topics that can
be considered as a barrier to communication. It is ironic considering the fact that stereotyping
was considered as a source that can motivate inimical attitudes towards culture2. The essay
highlights the effectiveness of stereotypes in maintaining intercultural communication.
Critical analysis is conducted on the role played by stereotype in facilitating and hindering
cultural communication.
Body
The development of stereotypes that focus mainly on the communication pattern that
exists between intergroup relations and conflicts has been explored by various researches.
Stereotyping has a set of definitions that start with the concept that it is a set of social beliefs
that are shared by a group of people over other groups3. The beliefs are developed based on
the characteristics that exist among the people and the difference it has with the people that
perceive them in a different manner. The stereotypes among the people occur due to the
1 Niwa, Erika Y. et al, "Negative Stereotypes Of Ethnic Outgroups: A Longitudinal Examination Among
Palestinian, Israeli Jewish, And Israeli Arab Youth" (2014) 26(1) Journal of Research on Adolescence
2 Childs, David Jason, "“Let's Talk About Race”: Exploring Racial Stereotypes Using Popular Culture In Social
Studies Classrooms" (2014) 105(6) The Social Studies

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social stigma and negative perception that occurs based on factors such as self-esteem
academic achievement, health and popularity. At the same time, stereotypes shape the
development of identity, discrimination and intergroup conflict. In this regard, it can be said
that stereotypes are the centre of every social interaction as well as cognitive development.
Stereotypes can be considered as an important schema of social categories that deal
with the ethnicity as well as the nationality of the people. Debate can be made about the
positive and negative effect stereotyping may have on the communication between
intercultural people4. For example, some of the negative influences that stereotyping may
have on the development of intercultural communication is that it may lead to
misunderstanding between people. Stereotypes normally occur due to the categorising of an
individual. A judgement is made based on the feelings one have over the other. This leads to
the development of an image that is based on the standards perception of a group of people5.
For example, the Japanese people are often perceived as being collective and are treated like
the Chinese people. Although the treatment is mainly based on the physical features that exist
between both the cultures, the communication plays an important role while sharing
information.
The misunderstanding that is cause due to the stereotype may cause distorted views
about various communication methods. The existence of race or nationality can be the main
3 Fukuda, Chie, "Gaijin Performing Gaijin (‘A Foreigner Performing A Foreigner’): Co-Construction Of
Foreigner Stereotypes In A Japanese Talk Show As A Multimodal Phenomenon" (2017) 109 Journal of
Pragmatics
4 Marsh, Abigail A., Hillary Anger Elfenbein and Nalini Ambady, "Separated By A Common Language" (2007)
38(3) Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology
5 Guterman, Kineret, "The Dynamics Of Stereotyping: Is A New Image Of The Terrorist Evolving In American
Popular Culture?" (2013) 25(4) Terrorism and Political Violence

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COMMUNICATION ACROSS CULTURES
cause for stereotyping but it does not cause a single dimensional image for a particular person
or group. For example, Asian women may be considered as good in subjects like mathematics
by people of other countries, but are considered as weak by some of the people due to the
gender6. These things cause a hindrance or barrier in inter cultural communication, as the
sharing of information may cease to stop based on either notion that are possessed by the
people. Therefore, it can be said that stereotypes result in prejudice that provides advantage to
one class of people over another. Such examples can be seen by the perception that American
businesspersons perceive their Asian co-employees as assertive as well as lacking any skills
of leadership.
At the same time, the prejudice may have a positive impact on intercultural
communication. For example, Israelis consider Indians as trustworthy businesspersons.
Therefore, based on this particular stereotyping nature, the improvement of intercultural
communication can be perceived as a positive side by many scholars. It has been seen that
stereotyping often motivates the rise of prejudice among people7. Excessive attack on the
emotional nature of an individual may bring about negative feedback among people. For
example, one of the most traditional matters that exist in the stereotyping business is the
discrimination between whites and blacks8. The hindrance on intercultural communication
can be based on the fact that the black people feel that the white people are ignorant due to
the fact that they communicate more on matters that are trivial. At the same time, individual
performance may be hampered due to the existence of stereotyping.
6 Metge, Joan and P. J Kinloch, (2017) Talking Past Each Other
7 Warren, Thomas L. Cross-cultural Communication
8 Mironova, A. Dina, and A. Elena Shevchenko. "English language as the basis for successful cross-cultural
communication during exchange program." (2016) Humanities education in a university of economics..

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COMMUNICATION ACROSS CULTURES
It has been suggested that the application of stereotyping often leads to the failure of
performance among individuals. An example of this can be the fact that Asian people are
normally provided with softer roles in an organisation, while people belonging in the
European or African origin are provided with job roles that require strength that is more
based on physical development9. Therefore, this affects intercommunication as well as
performance as the level of intellect or physical power may not be the same for every people
belonging to the stereotyped class. The cultural communication in this regard can be hindered
by the fact that approaching these people can be a cause of concern. For example,
communication topics with Asian people need to be refined and presented in a manner that
does not hurt the sentiments of the people. This is not one of the concerns while
communicating with the people belonging to the same culture.
Stereotyping plays an important role in the intensifying the social distance that
exists between the people of two communities as well as cultures10. For example, immigrants
in a country may consider themselves to be inferior than the natives mainly due to the number
they hold in a society. There may exist animosity between the local residents and the
immigrants based on the existence of intercommunication culture. It has been stated that
communication and sharing of information helps in establishing a common ground between
the people belonging to different cultures. Meeting with other people of a different culture
undergoes perception within the group members that certain stereotype may exist. For
example, meeting with any people that belong to the Muslim religion often spurs suspicion
on the Americans that they may be terrorists11. Until 1960s, the identification of terrorists
9 Liu, Min, et al. "Design and evaluation of interprofessional cross-cultural communication sessions." (2015)
29.6: 622-627 Journal of interprofessional care.
10 Arvizu, Steven F., and Marietta Saravia-Shore,(2017) Cross-cultural literacy: Ethnographies of
communication in multiethnic classrooms.

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COMMUNICATION ACROSS CULTURES
were diverse and had covered possibilities that people from any powerful nation are capable
of causing terrorist attacks.
Therefore, it can be said that in order to maintain effective intercultural
communication, stereotyping plays a crucial role in providing the resources required for
communication. For example, British people activate stereotype by starting to communicate
with people of other culture by talking about the weather. Therefore, this provides an idea to
other people about the nationality of the person concerned and accordingly makes
communication based on the topic and avoid stereotype12. It can be said that the stereotyping
does not always encourage negativity among people as it helps to avoid inappropriateness
among the people. Therefore, it can be said that the effective use of stereotyping can be done
to explain social events among the people. One of the important things that stereotyping helps
is people gets to protect the social nature and the group in which they belong. Various social
events are developed based on the application of stereotyping that helps in the
communication with people of other cultures.
It has already been stated that stereotyping presents typical characteristics based on a
cluster of perception. Individuals establish target people so that communication can be
maintained between the people belonging to different cultures. For example, Swedish people
are considered as tall and based on the physical characteristics social events consisting of tall
people are normally considered as Swedish13. At the same time, social events that provide
indication of a specific country also provide a potential of improving the intercultural
11 Young, Tony J., and Alina Schartner. "The effects of cross-cultural communication education on international
students' adjustment and adaptation." (2014) 35.6: 547-562 Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural
Development.
12 Piri, Somaye, Zohreh Eslami Rasekh, and Reza Pishghadam. "Emotional Capital Within the Cultural
Dimensions Framework." (2017) 13.6: 1-13 Cross-Cultural Communication.
13 Thomas, David C., and Mark F. Peterson, (2017). Cross-cultural management: Essential concepts.

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communication. Stereotyping helps in preserving the value of groups and this provides an
indication about the value people have on the group and the activities that are undertaken in
the culture. This also provides an understanding of the fact that several groups can be formed
as people of similar culture may not share the same tastes. This leads people to be considered
as outsiders and make way for changed perception among other people.
Therefore, it can be said that stereotypes are responsible for arousing the social events
so that different cultural people can come together to continue working with another. The
analysis shows that most people prefer to use stereotypes that help in explaining the
collective actions. It has been established that humanity has a psychological need to fulfil the
demand made by the people of different society14. The fact that social groups as well as
individuals gain an identity in the society provides as an advantage for most people.
Stereotypes help in providing multidimensional references so that the similarities and
dissimilarities between the social groups are not established. At the same time, the positive
quality of stereotypes helps in preserving the culture of the people. Abundance of research
has proved that stereotyping is impossible to eliminate, as it is a part of society. Based on this
particular evidence, it can be said that the stereotyping can influence positive as well negative
characteristics among people.
For example, while communicating with people belonging to Asia, people may tend
to avoid sensitive topics, as the Asian people are considered as emotional. This may prove, as
a hindrance in the communication between cultures as topics need to be chosen carefully and
maintaining proper coordination particularly during work cannot take place. For example,
topics such as food or lifestyle need to be avoided while talking with people of Indian or
Korean origin. Hence, this particular stereotyping may lead to discomfiture and hinder the
14 Yue, Jianying, and Puyu Ning. "The cultivation of critical thinking skills in intercultural communication
course." (2015) 11.3: 47 Cross-Cultural Communication.

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communication process15. The tag that is put on Chinese people about their ability to think
and react to situations indicates that stereotyping has a negative effect on the intercultural
communication. Stereotyping can also be related to maintenance, as most people belonging to
the European countries prefer to maintain the type of stereotype that exists within the self.
For example, political parties promote the negligence of racial discrimination in areas that
offer working opportunities and other selective opportunity.
Stereotyping can be formed from an early childhood such as interaction with people
in the classroom. However, this may be considered interschool or inter social stereotype as
the intercultural interaction are not always present. Stereotypes circulate with the medium
that are developed from school and based on the development communication between
people and group are hampered16. This culminates into being stereotypical in the future and
provides empirical evidences that stereotyping has a bad impact in the society. The positive
factors that exist among different group members due to the stereotyping are normally
because the cultural heritage of the people exists. However, the passing of information has
one disadvantage that is the passing of information may take different perspective once it is
being transferred from one person to another. Hence, it can be said that cultural stereotypes
cannot be dismissed easily and it continues to be a part of society and country.
Conclusion
15 Tran, Ben. "Communication (intercultural and multicultural) at play for cross cultural management within
multinational corporations (MNCs)." (2016) 1781-1811 International business: Concepts, methodologies, tools,
and applications..
16 Jussila, Katja, et al. "Cross-cultural differences in the Parent Rated Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS)?
Evaluation of the Finnish version among high-functioning school aged males with and without autism spectrum
disorder." (2015) 38-44Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders.

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COMMUNICATION ACROSS CULTURES
Therefore, it can be concluded that stereotyping is an ancient thing and continuous to
grow with the growth of population. Despite the fact that stereotypes have a cognitive belief,
it plays an important role for the development of intercultural communication. The relativity
to the cultural background of individuals and the need to categorise social beliefs provide
important evidence for the development of intercultural communication. The negative side of
stereotyping may result in the misunderstanding between the people and cause major barriers
in the intercultural communication. Recommendations can be provided that highlight manner
by which such stereotyping can be reduced. Methods such as raising the awareness among
cultures can have a positive influence among the people in a particular group. Therefore,
conclusion can be made the stereotyping can be valuable for preserving the cultural identity
of a group and maintain the characteristics that define people of different culture. Utilization
of stereotypes in practise can be considered for further research.

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COMMUNICATION ACROSS CULTURES
Reference
Arvizu, Steven F., and Marietta Saravia-Shore,(2017) Cross-cultural literacy: Ethnographies
of communication in multiethnic classrooms.
Childs, David Jason, "“Let's Talk About Race”: Exploring Racial Stereotypes Using Popular
Culture In Social Studies Classrooms" (2014) 105(6) The Social Studies
Fukuda, Chie, "Gaijin Performing Gaijin (‘A Foreigner Performing A Foreigner’): Co-
Construction Of Foreigner Stereotypes In A Japanese Talk Show As A Multimodal
Phenomenon" (2017) 109 Journal of Pragmatics
Guterman, Kineret, "The Dynamics Of Stereotyping: Is A New Image Of The Terrorist
Evolving In American Popular Culture?" (2013) 25(4) Terrorism and Political Violence
Jussila, Katja, et al. "Cross-cultural differences in the Parent Rated Social Responsiveness
Scale (SRS)? Evaluation of the Finnish version among high-functioning school aged males
with and without autism spectrum disorder." (2015) 38-44Research in Autism Spectrum
Disorders.
Liu, Min, et al. "Design and evaluation of interprofessional cross-cultural communication
sessions." (2015) 29.6: 622-627 Journal of interprofessional care.
Marsh, Abigail A., Hillary Anger Elfenbein and Nalini Ambady, "Separated By A Common
Language" (2007) 38(3) Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology
Metge, Joan and P. J Kinloch, (2017) Talking Past Each Other
Mironova, A. Dina, and A. Elena Shevchenko. "English language as the basis for successful
cross-cultural communication during exchange program." (2016) Humanities education in a
university of economics..

10
COMMUNICATION ACROSS CULTURES
Niwa, Erika Y. et al, "Negative Stereotypes Of Ethnic Outgroups: A Longitudinal
Examination Among Palestinian, Israeli Jewish, And Israeli Arab Youth" (2014) 26(1)
Journal of Research on Adolescence
Piri, Somaye, Zohreh Eslami Rasekh, and Reza Pishghadam. "Emotional Capital Within the
Cultural Dimensions Framework." (2017) 13.6: 1-13 Cross-Cultural Communication.
Thomas, David C., and Mark F. Peterson, (2017). Cross-cultural management: Essential
concepts.
Tran, Ben. "Communication (intercultural and multicultural) at play for cross cultural
management within multinational corporations (MNCs)." (2016) 1781-1811 International
business: Concepts, methodologies, tools, and applications..
Warren, Thomas L. Cross-cultural Communication
Young, Tony J., and Alina Schartner. "The effects of cross-cultural communication education
on international students' adjustment and adaptation." (2014) 35.6: 547-562 Journal of
Multilingual and Multicultural Development.
Yue, Jianying, and Puyu Ning. "The cultivation of critical thinking skills in intercultural
communication course." (2015) 11.3: 47 Cross-Cultural Communication.