Media Stereotyping

Running Head: MEDIA STEREOTYPING

Media Stereotyping: The Effect of Cultural Videos in College

Classroom

Kashmira Thakkar

Illinois State University

COM 472 – Seminar in Intercultural/Interethnic Communication

Dr. John R. Baldwin

May 10, 2005

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Media Stereotyping

Abstract

Utilizing a random sample of 121 participants, this

particular research analyzes the undergraduate students’

perception of the East Indian Culture that is formed and

influenced by media. A survey of stereotypical perceptions is

used to inquire about views that individuals hold of the East

Indian Culture. Furthermore, using a one-way ANOVA test a cross

analysis is done between three groups to see if media has an

impact on student perceptions of the East Indian Culture. The

results reveal that media does have a significant influence in

shaping one’s stereotypes. These findings validate the

Cultivation theory and have implications for educators who choose

films as a tool for teaching about a culture. What one chooses

to watch and show is of importance because it leaves behind

impressions that eventually lead to stereotypical views about a

particular culture.

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Media Stereotyping

Media Stereotyping: The Effect of Cultural Videos in College Classroom

Introduction

It is said that on an average a person watches up to four

hours of TV per day. Aside from the four hours of TV that one

watches at home or at any other place, we are constantly

surrounded by other forms of media such as newspapers, magazines,

internet, etc. All forms of media bring across information and

messages that we analyze and interpret, whether it is conscious

or unconscious. We rarely stop to think about the impact that

media have on us. Implicitly or explicitly media influence us

and begin to shape our ideas, our perceptions, and our

stereotypes. While we all know that stereotypes are not one

hundred percent true, they do have a kernel of truth in them,

which is the reason why they have been formed in the first place.

In a fast moving, global world media has become the prime

source for information exchange for many of us. Therefore, it is

quiet common for individuals to learn about different aspects of

life through TV, the internet, and other forms of media. Among

these things are perceptions about other cultures. Forms of

media such as TV shows and movies depict what other cultures are

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Media Stereotyping

like, how they live, what they eat, how they communicate, and so

on. The depiction of these aspects of culture in movies shapes

our view of that particular culture. Keeping this in mind, this

particular study analyzes undergraduate students’ perception of

the East Indian Culture through a stereotype survey.

The objective of the study is to not only find out what

stereotypes students hold of the East Indian Culture, but to also

inquire whether media affects these stereotypes. There are three

groups involved in this study. The first group watched a

Hollywood movie, second group watched a Bollywood (Indian film

industry) movie, and the third group (control group) watched no

movie. All three groups filled out a brief stereotype survey

afterwards. Results of the study were used to determine if

perceptions of students differ depending on which movie clip they

saw. As mentioned before, the objective is to see what kind of

impact media has on one’s perception of the culture. Apart from

this, our objective is to also analyze what stereotypes students

hold in general about the East Indian Culture.

Literature Review

Stereotypes

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Media Stereotyping

According to the Merriam-Webster’s dictionary (2002), a

stereotype may be defined as an oversimplified or biased mental

picture held to characterize the typical individual of a group.

The Color of Words: An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Ethnic Bias in

the United States defines stereotype as “a generalization of what

people are like; an exaggerated image of their characteristics

without regard to individual attributes” (Herbst, 2001, p. 212).

Though the term is commonly applied to human beings, it is quite

possible to stereotype objects as well (Nachbar & Lause, 1992).

However, for the purpose of this research study we will treat

stereotypes within the context of popular beliefs and images that

people hold about other groups of people.

Social Beliefs and Stereotypes

According to Lippmann (1922) stereotypes are essentially

“pictures in our heads.” (p. 9). These mental pictures are

formed not only by one’s own personal experiences, but also

through continuous social interaction. Later, Boulding (1956)

further discussed the concept of “image” which we all keep in our

thoughts about the world. According to Boulding (1956), very few

of these images are based on personal experiences. Both Lippmann

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Media Stereotyping

(1922) and Boulding (1956) realized that what we know about the

world – the images and pictures in our heads are byproducts of

our interaction with the people and the society as a whole.

Consequently, these thoughts or “facts” which we hold about the

world result from agreeing with people during the course of

social interactions that a particular “fact” is true. Therefore,

the thoughts or “facts” are likely to represent the biases of

these social interactions.

Recent research in the field of social psychology points to

the fact that stereotypical beliefs are implicit in the sense

that they are based on ordinary biases rooted in the memory and

happen at an unconscious level (Banaji & Bhaskar, 2000).

According to Allport (1979), man has an inclination to prejudice.

This inclination lies in his natural and normal tendency to form

generalizations, concepts, and categories. Often these concepts

represent an oversimplification of his world of experiences.

Allport (1979) indicates that these concepts and categories

sometimes even lack the “kernel of truth” and can be formed based

on hearsay evidence, emotional projections and fantasies.

Allport (1979) defined stereotype as an exaggerated belief

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Media Stereotyping

associated with a category. Its function is to justify our

conduct in relation to the category. He points out that some

stereotypes are totally unsupported by facts; while other

stereotypes develop from a sharpening and overgeneralization of

facts which in few cases have a “kernel of truth” associated with

them.

Social Beliefs and Mass Media

Different forms of mass communication include newspapers,

magazines, television, popular cinema, music, literature,

internet, textbooks, etc. According to Newspaper Association of

America (NAA), in the year 2004, 1456 newspapers have been

published in the morning and evening editions with a total

circulation of 55,185,351 newspapers per day with a readership of

57% of men and 52% of the entire population (NAA, 2004).

According to A.C. Nielsen Co. report (1998), the average American

watches 3 hours and 46 minutes of TV each day. By age 65, the

average American will have spent roughly 9 years watching TV.

Almost 98% of American homes have at least one television. The

report also indicates that 6 million videos and 3 million library

items are checked out everyday. According to the National

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Media Stereotyping

Association of Theater Owners (2004), there are a total of 36,652

movie screens, with a total of 1.53 billion admissions in the

year 2004 alone. Few sociologists would refute the fact that

this huge exposure to different forms of media could play a big

role in creating the so called “images” (Boulding, 1956) and

“pictures in our heads” (Lippmann, 1922) which result in the

formation of stereotypes.

Media Stereotyping

In popular culture, people are often stereotyped around

characteristics of age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion,

vocation, and nationality (Nachbar & Lause, 1992). The following

section reviews relevant research literature available on general

media stereotyping around the characteristics of age and gender.

General Media Stereotyping

According to Rutherford (1994), women in television

advertisements are depicted as feminine, showing their beauty,

grace and sexual attractiveness, while men on the other hand were

associated with outdoors, sports, cars, driving, and relaxing.

Rutherford (1994) further emphasized the fact that women are

often associated with the images of homemaker whereas roles

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Media Stereotyping

within the home and work environments that demand expertise and

authority are often associated with men. A content analysis of

the New York Times coverage of 1995 Women’s NCAA Basketball

tournament indicated that there were three times as many stories,

photos and graphics on the men’s tournament when compared to the

women’s tournament (Silverstein, 1996). The analysis revealed

that the New York Times coverage perpetuated the “women are not

aggressive” stereotype (Silverstein, 1996) and trivialized the

women’s tournament. A study which investigated a random sample

of 91 MTV music videos which were broadcasted in 1993, depicted

men as more adventuresome, violent and aggressive when compared

to women. More than nine out ten stereotypically male

occupational roles were portrayed by males on MTV and all

stereotypically female occupational roles were portrayed by

females (Seidman, 1999).

Comic strips, which are one of the most widely read forms of

humor in American popular culture, appearing in the Washington

Post between 1970s and 1990s were analyzed comparing humor and

ageing. Findings indicated that older adults are stereotypically

represented as unattractive, out-of-touch and not so intelligent

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people (Hanlon, Farnsworth, & Murray, 1997). For the purpose of

this research study, we will be concentrating on the racial and

ethnic stereotyping in media. The following sections review the

relevant research literature available on media stereotyping of

various ethnic minorities.

Media Stereotyping of Ethnic Minorities

Cultivation theory sometimes also referred to as cultivation

hypothesis or cultivation analysis was an approach developed by

George Gerbner (Chandler, 2000), to study whether and how

television watching may influence viewers’ ideas of what the

world is like. According to cultivation theorists television has

long-term effects which are small, gradual, indirect but

cumulative and significant. In essence cultivation theory states

that continuous exposure to mass media namely television, creates

and cultivates attitudes that are more consistent with the media

version of reality than with the actual reality (Chandler, 2000).

Television in this case acts as a socializing agent that educates

viewers on a separate version of reality.

Cultivation theorists argue that heavy viewers tend to have

more homogenized or convergent opininons than light viewers.

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Media Stereotyping

This cultivation effect is one of “level” or “homogenizing”

opinion and is called “main streaming effect” (Chandler, 2000).

According to Gerbner, this “main streaming effect” results in

heavy viewers of violence on television coming to believe that

incidents of violence in everyday world are higher than light

viewers with similar backgrounds. As a consequence, heavy

viewers tend to believe that the “world is a nastier place” than

do light viewers. This is a direct effect of misjudging the

amount of violence in the society and is called the “mean world

syndrome.” Gerbner, further points out that congruence between

the viewers’ everyday experiences and the depictions on

television will result in a double-dose effect, boosting the

cultivation process. This is referred to as “resonance”

(Chandler, 2000).

Cultivation theory has often been criticized by researchers

for being over-simplified, not considering several other forms of

media which can contribute to cultivation and not dealing with

several factors such as demographics, age, gender, ethnicity, and

socio-economic background that can affect a person’s experience

while watching television (Chandler, 2000). In spite of its

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limitations, cultivation theory continues to hold an important

place in today’s society. The following section reviews the

literature based on media stereotyping of different minorities

which inherently “cultivate” cultural perceptions of ethnic

minorities.

African Americans

Research literature reviewed indicates that popular media

including television, newspapers, websites and films often

portray African Americans in stereotypical representations. A

content analysis of 1,699 television commercials (Coltrane &

Messineo, 2000) aired on popular television programs with high

ratings between 1992 and 1994 indicated that African American men

are often stereotypically portrayed as hyper masculine or

menacing and aggressive in nature. The findings also indicated

that African American men are less likely to be at home and are

less likely to be passive/emotional when compared to their white

counterparts, which are common stereotypical beliefs held against

African Americans (Coltrane & Messineo, 2000).

A content analysis of 813 television commercials aired on

children’s television programming conducted by Bang and Reece

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(2003) also indicated that African Americans were less likely to

be shown in home environments and more likely to be shown in food

commercials when compared to Caucasians. Cultivation theory

suggests that these kinds of portrayals can unduly result in

stereotypical beliefs about African American children.

Findings from a content analysis of fifty popular films in

1996 (Eschholz, Bufkin, & Long, 2002) indicate that African

Americans are still underrepresented in leading roles in

Hollywood and are in general portrayed stereotypically. African

Americans are more likely to be portrayed in less serious and

comic roles whereas their white counterparts are more likely to

be portrayed in drama and action/adventure genres. Furthermore,

the occupational prestige of African American actors was less

than the occupational prestige of their white counterparts. Ever

since the movie The Birth of a Nation was released, African American

men have often been portrayed in Hollywood as violent in nature.

This is indicated by the ingrained association of African

American males with violence in movies such as Boyz N the Hood,

Menace II Society, Fresh, Jason’s Lyric, Juice, and many others (Pierson,

1997).

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Another source (Cripps, 1978) in R. Miller’s edited book,

also discusses the movie, The Birth of a Nation in which Griffith

derives black images from southern mythology and common racial

stereotypes that have long been circulating in the popular

cinema. The images in this movie depict negative stereotypes of

African Americans during the Civil War. According to Cripps

(1978), African Americans understood the implications of

Griffith’s images and as result the NAACP launched a campaign to

boycott such films. To reverse the negative stereotypes created

by the movie, the NAACP and Booker T. Washington sought to

develop a black motion picture company in which they scaled their

efforts down to a movie titled, The Birth of a Race (Cripps, 1978).

Furthermore, a source by Pines (1975) states that Blacks are

exploited in movies, which is known as “blaxploitation.”

According to Pines (1975), the trend of “blaxploitation” in films

has been popular through the gangster idiom that started in the

movie Shaft and carried on through others movies such as Cool

Breeze, Slaughter, and Black Gunn. All of these movies are

obsessively geared towards violence (Pines, 1975).

Native Americans

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A study conducted by Merskin (2001) on four popular national

products: Land O’ Lakes Butter, Sue Bee Honey, Big Chief

[Monitor] Sugar, and Crazy Horse Malt Liquor indicates the use of

Native American stereotypes in advertising. According to

Vrasidas (1996), film industry in US has played a significant

role in misrepresentation and creation of stereotyping the image

of Native Americans. Vrasidas (1996) discussed “The Western” as

a film genre and as a type of American mythology which

perpetuated the myths and stereotypes of Native Americans.

Another source by Walker (1998) in Rollins and O’Connor’s

edited book states that a movie titled, The Last of the Mohicans is a

prime example of how Native Americans are negatively portrayed in

popular cinema. The central theme that is depicted in this

particular movie is that of barbarism. According to Walker

(1998), Hollywood’s depiction of Native Americans unfortunately

contributed to the history of repeatedly telling the “wrong tale

of The Last of the Mohicans” (p. 177).

According to Hilger (1986), there is no doubt that the “wild

and woolly westerns” have put in place negative images of Native

Americans in the minds of the audience. Although such negative

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Media Stereotyping

stereotypes exist, some films such as Little Big Man, attempt to be

sympathetic to the Native American characters. However, despite

such sympathy that is portrayed, yet it still uses Native

American characters as only political symbols to criticize

contemporary values (Hilger, 1986).

Latinos

A content analysis of newspaper coverage on Hispanics in

nine emerging communities (Paulin, 2004) indicates that Hispanics

are still stereotypically portrayed as victims who are not in

control of their circumstances. A story-line content analysis of

six textbooks that are extensively used in grades 7-12 across US

indicates that subtle and not-so-subtle adjectives and

parenthetical comments were used to reinforce negative

stereotypes about Latin Americans as lazy, passive,

irresponsible, and somewhat paradoxically, lustful, animalistic

and violent (Cruz, 1994).

According to Pettit (1980), a large number of movies

depicting Hispanics, portrays three major stereotypes: the dark

lady, the bandito, and the clown. Furthermore, Pettit (1980)

points out that most Mexican women do not hold key moral

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positions in popular cinema. In addition, a source by Williams

(1985) in Keller’s edited book sheds light on the fact that

Hispanic women’s bodies are often reduced to the status of sex

objects. This kind of portrayal is for the delight of male

subjects who are no less stereotyped than the “lazy Mexicans” who

serve as foils in countless “Westerns to flatter the intelligence

and energy of the Anglo cowboy” (Williams, 1985, p. 59).

Furthermore, according to Williams (1985), films such as Let Katie

Do It or Martyrs of the Alamo depict Hispanics as “lazy greasers,”

banditos, and sex and dope addicts.

Arabs

In his book, Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies Arabs, Shaheen

(2001), discussed more than 900 films, which portrayed a

distorted image of Arabs. Fifteen to twenty movies that have

been appearing on TV screen since the mid 1980’s projects Arabs

as dehumanized. These movies are mostly recycled versions of:

The Sheik (1921), The Mummy (1932), Cairo (1942), The Steel Lady

(1953), Exodus (1960), The Black Stallion (1979), Protocol (1984), The

Delta Force (1986), Ernest in the Army (1997), and Rules of Engagement

(2000). Though, there have been few movies where Arabs have been

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projected as heroes, majority of the portrayals are negative

stereotypes commonly held against Arabs. According to Shaheen

(2001):

“The moviemakers’ distorted lenses have shown Arabs as

heartless, brutal, uncivilized, religious fanatics through

common depictions of Arabs kidnapping or raping a fair

maiden; expressing hatred against the Jews and Christians;

and demonstrating a love for wealth and power” (p. 171).

Shaheen (2001) also draws an interesting parallel between

how negative stereotypes of Arabs are portrayed in movies with

the propaganda of the images of Jews in Nazi-inspired movies such

as Robert and Bertram (1939), Die Rothschilds Aktien von Waterloo (1940), Der

Ewige Jude (1940), and Jud Süss (1940).

According to Woll and Miller (1987), the Arab stereotype

derives from cultural traditions dating back to the Middle Ages.

Furthermore, movies regarding Arab stereotypes have depicted

views of sinister figure of crime and corruption. International

events, especially the continuing Arab-Israeli conflict and

Middle Eastern political instability have repeatedly resulted in

negative reporting about the Arab world (Woll & Miller, 1987).

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Asians

Similar to other ethnic groups mentioned above, Asians also

have been stereotyped and misrepresented in the media. According

to Choy (1978) although superficially one might say that the

media images of the typical Asian has undergone changes, however

in actuality, “all we see is a repackaging of the various

stereotypes developed in the 1800s” (p. 145). For example,

according to Sardar (2000), conventionally the Chinese have been

portrayed as: untrustworthy, stupid, greedy, superstitious,

lustful towards white women, irrationally attached to rather

conservative notions of honor and family loyalty, and prone to

narcotic addictions. However, some movies such as Broken Blossoms

were seen as sympathetic portrayal of the Chinese. But the

intended sympathy only reconfirmed the prejudice it seeks to

expose (Sardar, 2000). Furthermore, movies such as Keys of the

Kingdom (1944) and Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958) showed China as

cruel, despotic, wrapped in tradition, chaotic, a corrupt “ruin

on the edge of the world,” and perennially resistant to change

and to the west (Sardar, 2000).

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Additionally, a source by Kobayashi (1999) states that

before the 1960s Asians were generally stereotyped in “devious,

inscrutable, unassimilable, and in other overtly negative ways”

(p. 3). Furthermore, before 1960s Asian women were generally

portrayed as exotic and erotic (Kobayashi, 1999). All these

images in films show misrepresentation of Asians.

East Indians

According to Rosser (1995), Hinduism in American textbooks

is referred to as one of the world’s five greatest religions.

However, Hindu beliefs and traditions are represented

superstitiously. A survey conducted in University of Texas at

Austin in the fall semester of 1995 indicated that, wars,

disease, population, Gandhi, Mother Theresa, female infanticide,

flooding, and starvation were the most emphasized topics in the

study about India in American history textbooks. The survey also

indicated that India is economically backward with emphasis on

the superstitious and polytheistic nature of Hinduism as one of

the primary reasons. A large number of students also indicated

the portrayal of Indians as those eating monkey brains by many

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teachers, as depicted in the Spielberg film Indiana Jones and the

Temple of Doom (1984).

According to Woll and Miller (1987), India became a backdrop

in Hollywood films in the 1930’s. Often, these films presented

the British view of the events and personalities of the Indian

colony. This was clearly portrayed in the movie Gunga Din (1939),

which depicted the supremacy of three British officers over

thousands of evil Indians obsessed by warlike religion. More

recent films by the British like Gandhi (1982), A Passage to India

(1984), Granada Television’s The Jewel in the Crown, heed back to the

American versions of life presented in the 1930’s. Later, the

stereotyped and hackneyed representations of 1920’s and 1930’s

were used by screen writers as evident in Spielberg’s film Indiana

Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984). According to Woll and Miller

(1987), this film borrowed its conception from the depiction of

Indian life from the tribesmen of Gunga Din (1939).

In addition, Bernardi (1996) discusses the birth of

whiteness in D.W. Griffith’s narrative system followed in such

films as The Birth of a Nation (1915) and Broken Blossoms (1919), which

cast non-whites as metonymic and metaphoric threat to superiority

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of whiteness. These threats to whites from non-whites is also

evident in films such as Leather Stockings (1909), A Mohawk’s Way

(1910), and The Thread of Destiny (1910), in which Indians attack and

brutalize white families (Bernardi, 1996). According to Bernardi

(1996), Griffith’s stories are ultimately about white masculinity

and their divine and natural right to judge and punish. The

emphasis in Griffith’s stories on non-whites being inferior and

brutal and the dominance on non-whites are required to maintain

the “privilege” of white men.

Furthermore, Hearn and Demille (1996) in Hagashi’s edited

book, note the demonstration of white supremacy and white

privilege which marked its birth in Griffith’s narrative system

(Bernardi, 1996) in movies such as Indiana Jones and Temple of Doom

(1984) that portrays people around the globe as exotic,

mysterious, pagan, culturally backward, and racially inferior.

Similarly, Shome (1996), in his essay examines City of Joy

(1992), a movie about India and notes the representation of white

supremacy and white privilege. According to Shome (1996), the

essential theme in this movie and many others such as Lawrence of

Arabia (1962), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), or even more

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recent films such as Rambo III (1988), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

(1989), The Medicine Man (1992), and On Deadly Ground (1994) is one

of “White man’s burden.” This genre of films use the

colonialistic narrative of the white man playing the savior of so

called “third world” countries and the imperialist idea that

white person has to arrive and save the humanity, incapable of

governing themseleves from miserable conditions.

According to Srivastava (2005), an irritating fact is of the

western world’s portrayal of India in few defined parameters such

as poverty, maharajas, snake charmers and elephants. Srivastava

(2005) notes that though the west is talking of India as the

emerging economic powerhouse, the creative outputs still seem to

be caught in a time warp. According to Srivastava (2005), a

recent Hollywood film Alexander (2003) came in particular

criticism in India for its stereotypical treatment of Indians

heeding back to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984).

Few economists would refute the fact that India is on the

path of becoming an economic powerhouse for the last decade and a

half. A recent report from Goldman Sachs (Nahan, 2004) indicates

this fact and notes that even if the Indian economy continues to

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grow for the next 20 years at just the same pace as it has over

the past decade, it will become the world’s third largest economy

on the planet after US and China. Rodrigo de Rato, Managing

Director of International Monetary Fund, in his remarks about the

growing Indian economy (Rato, 2005) emphasizes the fact of

dramatic declining poverty from 41% in 1992-93 to less than 29%

percent in 2000. According to Rato (2005), international

investors are eagerly focusing to take part in a new India. Rato

(2005) also notes about the booming IT (Information Technology)

sector along with many other sectors including tourism, steel

production, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.

Research literature reviewed indicates that India is

changing. However, the representation and portrayal of Indians

in Hollywood films continue to be based on stereotypical themes

such as poverty, squalor, backwardness, paganism and

mysteriousness. The purpose of this study is to identify some

stereotypical beliefs held by Americans’ about East Indian

Culture and also study the effect of popular cinema on Americans’

perceptions of East Indian Culture. Therefore, the researchers

pose the following questions:

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RQ1: What are Americans’ perceptions/stereotypes of the East

Indian Culture?

RQ2: Does media impact Americans’ perceptions/stereotypes of

the East Indian Culture?

Method

Participants

This particular research study included a random sample of

121 participants. These participants were recruited by one of

the principal investigators at a large Midwestern university.

The participants were all undergraduate students in a COM 110

class at the university. For the purpose of this study no

specific demographic information was necessary.

Procedures

The 121 participants were broken up into three groups. The

first group in the study, which was 37 participants, was shown a

movie clip about India titled, City of Joy, which is made and

produced by Hollywood. The movie clip was approximately 7-8

minutes long, in which the participants mostly saw the poor,

overpopulated, polluted, old slums of Calcutta (a city in India).

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In addition to this, participants also saw a poor Indian man

struggling to find a job in this big city. Following the movie,

students were asked to fill out the stereotype survey. The

second group in the study, which was 39 participants, was shown a

movie clip about India titled, Hum Tum, which is made and

produced by Bollywood (the Indian film industry). This movie

clip was also approximately 7-8 minutes long, in which the

participants saw a young, modernized girl and a guy (who are

strangers for one another) saying goodbye to their family at the

airport before leaving for their trip to America. Strangely

enough the two strangers (the boy and the girl) end up sitting

next to one anther on the airplane. Following the movie,

participants were asked to fill out the same stereotype survey.

The third group was the control group with 45 participants.

Since they were the control group, they were not asked to see any

movie clips, but to simply fill out the same stereotype survey

based on their past experiences and knowledge of the culture.

All subjects were given a consent form prior to their

participation, which explained the purpose of the study and the

fact that their participation is entirely voluntary. No

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demographic information was asked on the survey, since this was

not relevant to the study. The surveys collected were entirely

anonymous.

One of the principal investigators involved in this research

study is from India and is of the East Indian Culture and

therefore, she herself did not conduct the surveys because it

would create a social desirability bias. In order to eliminate

any such biases, the investigators appointed a confederate who

was trained to conduct the research study. The confederate was

also given an introduction to read to the participants prior to

showing the movie clips so that they would have some framework to

understand the movie with.

Instrument

The stereotype survey that the participants were given

included 20 adjectives that they had to asses on a Likert scale

of 1 to 5 (strongly disagree to strongly agree). The survey was

constructed using Leonard & Locke’s (1993) model of stereotype

adjectives/survey (see the attached Appendix C for the survey).

Most of the stereotype adjectives in the survey are extracted

from the above mentioned source; however a few were modified and

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changed in order to match the purpose of this particular research

study. The survey instrument contained the following 20

adjectives: traditional, modern, submissive, dominant,

individualistic, collectivistic, liberal, conservative,

intelligent, knowledgeable, direct, indirect, noisy, calm, rich,

poor, aggressive, passive, emotional, and practical.

Data Collection/Analysis

All the data was collected within two weeks of each other.

The surveys were conducted on pieces of paper. The appointed

confederate went into the different undergraduate COM 110 classes

to conduct the surveys. Only the principal investigators and the

confederate were able to see the surveys. After the data

collection was completed, only the two principal investigators

involved in the study had access to the data which was securely

stored. Once the data was entered into SPSS software and

analyzed, the surveys were destroyed in order to maintain

anonymity.

Results

This particular research study employed a quantitative

analysis technique. Since this study is intended to be a pilot

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study, significance of 0.10 or lower is acceptable. Its

objective was to compare perceptions of students about the East

Indian Culture. Since there were a total of three groups

involved in the study, a One-way ANOVA test was utilized to

analyze the data. The means and standard deviations of the three

groups of students for each stereotype adjective who watched a

Hollywood movie, a Bollywood movie or no movie are shown below in

Table 1.

Table 1

Mean and Standard Deviations of Students Seeing (or Not

Seeing) Films on India

Stereotype

Adjectives

Conditional Variable

No Movie Hollywood Bollywood

Traditiona

l

4.09 (0.83)

a

3.73 (0.83) 3.62 (0.87) a

Modern 2.60 (0.79)

a

2.30 (0.79) b 3.31 (0.91) a b

Submissive 3.09 (0.61) 2.97 (0.61) 3.05 (0.60)

Dominant 2.75 (0.97) 3.03 (0.97) 2.92 (1.04)

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Individual

istic

3.09 (1.06) 2.86 (1.06) 3.13 (1.11)

Collectivi

stic

3.48 (0.67) 3.36 (0.67) 3.41 (0.76)

Liberal 2.56 (0.98) 2.65 (0.98) 2.54 (0.72)

Conservati

ve

3.58 (0.96) 3.30 (0.96) 3.51 (0.74)

Intelligen

t

3.95 (0.69)

a

3.22 (0.69) a b 3.90 (0.75) b

Knowledgea

ble

3.91 (0.80)

a

3.38 (0.80) a b 3.92 (0.79) b

Direct 3.33 (0.75) 3.46 (0.75) 3.41 (0.93)

Indirect 2.79 (0.67) 2.70 (0.67) 2.87 (0.94)

Noisy 2.93 (0.94)

a

4.27 (0.94) a b 2.79 (0.73) b

Calm 3.23 (0.99)

a

2.22 (0.99) a b 3.36 (0.98) b

Rich 2.64 (0.87)

a

1.95 (0.87) a b 2.87 (0.74) b

Poor 3.36 (0.84) 3.97 (0.84) a b 3.03 (0.93) b

30

Media Stereotyping

a

Aggressive 2.58 (0.70)

a

3.11 (0.70) a b 2.72 (0.77) b

Passive 3.33 (0.68)

a

2.86 (0.68) a 3.18 (0.75)

Emotional 3.26 (0.69) 3.30 (0.69) 3.44 (0.62)

(Table 1 Continued)

Practical 3.33 (0.57) 3.49 (0.57) a 3.10 (0.93) a

NOTE: Standard deviations appear in parenthesis. Means are

calculated on a 5-point Likert scale (strongly disagree to

strongly agree). Common superscripts on each line represent

significant differences (p < 0.10).

The ANOVA results indicate that there was a significant

effect of media (watching a Hollywood movie, a Bollywood movie or

no movie) on the following stereotype adjectives: traditional

(F=3.28, p<0.10), modern (F=14.89, p<0.10), intelligent (F=11.08,

p<0.10), knowledgeable, (F=5.76, p<0.10), noisy (F=33.99,

p<0.10), calm (F=16.62, p<0.10), rich (F=15.02, p<0.10), poor

(F=13.07, p<0.10), aggressive (F=5.11, p<0.10), passive (F=4.23,

31

Media Stereotyping

p<0.10), practical (F=2.64, p<0.10). See Appendix D for detailed

ANOVA results.

Post hoc Scheffe’s tests indicate that students who did not

watch any movie perceived Indians to be more traditional than the

students who watched a Bollywood movie. Students who watched

Hum Tum, (the Bollywood movie) reported that Indians are more

modern when compared to the students who watched the Hollywood

movie or no movie at all. According to the post hoc tests,

students who watched the Bollywood movie, Hum Tum or no movie

perceived Indians to be more intelligent and knowledgeable than

the students who watched the Hollywood movie. Students who

watched City of Joy (the Hollywood movie) perceived Indians to be

noisier and less calm when compared to students who did not watch

any movie. Also students who watched City of Joy considered Indians

to be poorer when compared to students who watched no movie or

the Bollywood movie. On the other hand, students who watched

Bollywood movie or no movie perceived that Indians are richer

when compared to students who watched the Hollywood movie. The

post hoc tests also indicate that students who watched Hollywood

movie considered Indians to be more aggressive than students who

32

Media Stereotyping

watched the Bollywood movie or no movie. Students who watched

the Hollywood movie reported that Indians are less passive when

compared to students who did not watch any movie. Furthermore,

students who watched Hollywood movie perceived Indians to be more

practical when compared to students who watched the Bollywood

movie.

Discussion

Interpretations/Implications

The study indicates that movie watching did have a

significant effect on students’ perceptions of East Indians and

their culture. Specifically, movie watching had an effect on the

following stereotypical traits: traditional, modern, intelligent,

knowledgeable, noisy, calm, rich, poor, aggressive, passive, and

practical. These effects of movie watching on cultural

perceptions can be related to cultivation theory, which in

essence says that continuous media exposure cultivates attitudes

which are more consistent with the media than with the actual

reality. In accordance with the cultivation theory, students who

watched the Bollywood movie Hum Tum perceived East Indians to be

modern, intelligent, knowledgeable, and rich. On the other hand,

33

Media Stereotyping

students who watched the Hollywood movie, City of Joy perceived East

Indians to be noisy, poor, and aggressive.

The findings of this research study have implications for

various individuals: educators, communication scholars,

intercultural/interethnic trainers and consultants, movie makers

(producers and directors), and the average public in general.

Specifically instructors who use movies as a teaching tool or an

activity to inform their students’ about other cultures will find

value in the results of this particular study. Knowing if there

are any benefits or harms in showing movies made in Hollywood to

teach about different cultures as opposed to showing a movie made

in the actual culture itself, has great value. Overall

implications of the findings are the fact that these results are

informing us of how media can influence us and shape our

perceptions and stereotypes of other cultures. The results also

are implying that one should not solely rely on media as its only

source of information, especially when they can create negative

stereotypes about other cultures. Information gained through

media should be analyzed for its validity, reliability, and bias

otherwise such stereotypes result in ignorance about a particular

34

Media Stereotyping

culture.

Strengths/Limitations

Similar to most studies, this particular study also contains

a few strengths and limitations that researchers admit to. One

strength of this study is that it involves 121 participants,

which is a large enough number to give statistical value to the

study. Furthermore, with a large random sample such as this, the

results of the study can be generalized. Another strength of the

study is that in order to eliminate the social desirability bias,

the principal investigators appointed a confederate to conduct

the survey. Lastly, the researchers did a cross analysis and

comparison of three groups in which they were able to not only

understand what views are held about the East Indian Culture, but

also see if media impacts those views. In addition to this, most

cross cultural studies done thus far in relation to Asia have

mostly included Japanese and Chinese, but this study attempts to

look at a different group of Asians, specifically the East

Indians. Lastly, another strength of the study is that it

utilized a very short, brief one-page survey with only 20

adjectives, which eliminates the survey-taking fatigue.

35

Media Stereotyping

There are few limitations in this study as well. First

obvious limitation is that it utilized undergraduate students as

the participants of the study, which is not representative of the

general population. Second limitation of the study is that while

some might consider a random sample of 121 to be sufficient,

others might suggest using a larger sample of participants.

Therefore, this could be viewed as both, a strength and a

limitation of the study. In addition, this research being an

exploratory study (pilot study), results with significance of

0.10 or lower was accepted. This is a limitation of the study as

well.

Suggestions for Future Research

Researchers suggest that for future study, if given more

time and resources, one should include a larger random sample of

participants that is not limited to undergraduate students only,

but one that is representative of the general population.

Another suggestion of value for future research would be to

conduct a longitudinal study/analysis that examines the

stereotypes and perceptions of individuals over many years.

Lastly, in the future with a larger sample, results with

36

Media Stereotyping

significance value of 0.05 (95%) should be accepted as compared

to 0.10 (90%) significance value.

Conclusion

Very rarely we think about what we watch on TV or in movies.

Very rarely we stop to wonder if what is being shown is even

true. Very rarely we stop to analyze the impact that TV has on

us. Very rarely we speculate how media might shape our

perceptions and possibly build the stereotypes that we come to

believe as the truth. This particular study sheds light on this

phenomenon. Its objective is to make individuals understand that

what we see and what we show has a significant impact on others

and therefore, we should be selective in our choices.

37

Media Stereotyping

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Appendix A: Consent Letter FormsInformed Consent Cover Letter (for movie and survey)

You are being asked to participate in a research study that explores undergraduate students’ perceptions of the East Indian culture. Participants in this study will watch a short movie clip and then fillout a brief survey following it. This should take approximately 10-15minutes to complete. Your participation is voluntary and there is no penalty for non-participation. Furthermore, you may withdraw from thestudy at any time without any penalty. There is no risk involved in participating in this study. Your responses will remain strictly anonymous. Only the investigators of this study will have access to this information. By completing and submitting this survey, you are giving us permission to use your answers in our research report. Please know that your participation is greatly appreciated. Finally, you must be at least 18 or older to participate in this study.

If you have any questions about this study, please contact the following individuals at the phone numbers provided below:

John R. Baldwin Bruce Deason Kashmira ThakkarDept. of Communication Research Ethics& Compliance Dept. of Communication(309) 438-7969 (309) 438-8451 (309)310-6939jrbaldw@ilstu.edu

kashmirat@gmail.com

Please remove this page form the research survey and keep it for your records.

Thank you for your assistance.

Informed Consent Cover Letter (for survey only)

You are being asked to participate in a research study that explores undergraduate students’ perceptions of the East Indian culture. Participants in this study will fill out a brief, one-page survey based on their past knowledge and experiences of the culture. This should take approximately 3-5 minutes to complete. Your participationis voluntary and there is no penalty for non-participation. Furthermore, you may withdraw from the study at any time without any

46

Media Stereotyping

penalty. There is no risk involved in participating in this study. Your responses will remain strictly anonymous. Only the investigatorsof this study will have access to this information. By completing andsubmitting this survey, you are giving us permission to use your answers in our research report. Please know that your participation is greatly appreciated. Finally, you must be at least 18 or older to participate in this study.

If you have any questions about this study, please contact the following individuals at the phone numbers provided below:

John R. Baldwin Bruce Deason Kashmira ThakkarDept. of Communication Research Ethics & Compliance Dept.of Communication(309) 438-7969 (309) 438-8451 (309)310-6939jrbaldw@ilstu.edu

kashmirat@gmail.com

Please remove this page form the research survey and keep it for your records.

Thank you for your assistance.

Appendix B: Introductions to the Movie Clips

Directions: Read the following, respective introductions prior toshowing the movie clip.

Intro for City of Joy:

You will watch a short movie clip. Following the movie clip, you will fill out a brief, one-page survey on your perceptions of the East Indian Culture. The movie clip you are about to watch comes from the movie, “City of Joy.” In this clip, you will see the main character, Hazzari, a poor Indian manwho moves from a small village in India to a big city in India (Calcutta) with his family in search of a job. As he makes his way through the poor, overpopulated, polluted, and dirty slums ofCalcutta, he ends up coming in contact with an American doctor

47

Media Stereotyping

who is visiting India at that time. Over the course of their encounter (which is not shown in this movie clip), the American doctor ends up being a big savior for Hazzari.

Intro for Hum Tum:

You will watch a short movie clip. Following the movie clip, you will fill out a brief, one-page survey on your perceptions of the East Indian Culture. The movie clip you are about to watch comes from the movie, “Hum Tum.” In this clip, you will see two main characters, Karan (the boy) and Rhea (the girl), who are smart, educated, good-looking, modernized, youngsters in India. Initially both are strangers to one another, who coincidentally happen to be at the New Delhi airportin India, saying goodbyes to their family as they both leave for their flight to New York to study abroad. Later, in the clip youwill see that both of them (Karan and Rhea) end up sitting next to one another on the airplane and go from being strangers to acquaintances in which Karan tries to act like a “playboy” at thesight of a beautiful girl (Rhea) sitting next to him.

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Appendix C: Research Study SurveyEast Indian Culture Survey

Directions: On a scale of 1 to 5, circle the appropriate number for each of the following items about your perceptions of the East Indian culture.

Strongly disagree Disagree Neither agree nor disagree Agree Strongly agree

1 2 3 4 5

1) Traditional 1 2 3 4 5

2) Modern 1 2 3 4 5

3) Submissive 1 2 3 4 5

4) Dominant 1 2 3 4 5

5) Individualistic 1 2 3 4 5

6) Collectivistic 1 2 3 4 5

7) Liberal 1 2 3 4 5

8) Conservative 1 2 3 4 5

9) Intelligent 1 2 3 4 5

10) Knowledgeable 1 2 3 4 5

11) Direct 1 2 3 4 5

12) Indirect 1 2 3 4 5

13) Noisy 1 2 3 4 5

14) Calm 1 2 3 4 5

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Media Stereotyping

15) Rich 1 2 3 4 5

16) Poor 1 2 3 4 5

17) Aggressive 1 2 3 4 5

18) Passive 1 2 3 4 5

19) Emotional 1 2 3 4 5

20) Practical 1 2 3 4 5

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Media Stereotyping

Appendix D: ANOVA Results Table

Anova Results Table

Sum of

Squaresdf

Mean

SquareF Sig

Traditional Between

Groups5.161 2 2.580 3.276 .041

Within

Groups92.164 117 .788

Total 97.325 119

Modern Between

Groups20.608 2 10.304 14.882 .000

Within

Groups80.316 116 .692

Total 100.924 118

Submissive Between

Groups.292 2 .146 .364 .696

Within

Groups46.498 116 .401

Total 46.790 118

Dominant Between

Groups1.599 2 .800 .975 .380

51

Media Stereotyping

Within

Groups95.992 117 .820

Total 97.592 119

Individuali

stic

Between

Groups1.554 2 .777 .671 .513

Within

Groups134.311 116 1.158

Total 135.866 118

Collectivis

tic

Between

Groups.261 2 .130 .225 .799

Within

Groups66.218 114 .581

Total 66.479 116

Liberal Between

Groups.262 2 .131 .154 .857

Within

Groups98.729 116 .851

Total 98.992 118

Conservativ

e

Between

Groups1.709 2 .854 1.181 .311

52

Media Stereotyping

Within

Groups83.938 116 .724

Total 85.647 118

Intelligent Between

Groups12.939 2 6.469 11.074 .000

Within

Groups67.767 116 .584

Total 80.706 118

Knowledgeab

le

Between

Groups7.392 2 3.696 5.757 .004

Within

Groups75.108 117 .642

Total 82.500 119

Direct Between

Groups.370 2 .185 .262 .770

Within

Groups82.067 116 .707

Total 82.437 118

Indirect Between

Groups.543 2 .271 .455 .636

53

Media Stereotyping

Within

Groups69.205 116 .597

Total 69.748 118

Noisy Between

Groups50.662 2 25.331 33.991 .000

Within

Groups86.447 116 .745

Total 137.109 118

Calm Between

Groups29.820 2 14.910 16.618 .000

Within

Groups104.972 117 .897

Total 134.792 119

Rich Between

Groups17.567 2 8.784 15.018 .000

Within

Groups68.433 117 .585

Total 86.000 119

Poor Between

Groups17.463 2 8.731 13.075 .000

54

Media Stereotyping

Within

Groups78.129 117 .668

Total 95.592 119

Aggressive Between

Groups5.818 2 2.909 5.118 .007

Within

Groups65.930 116 .568

Total 71.748 118

Passive Between

Groups4.339 2 2.169 4.229 .017

Within

Groups59.510 116 .513

Total 63.849 118

Emotional Between

Groups.713 2 .356 .651 .523

Within

Groups63.506 116 .547

Total 64.218 118

Practical Between

Groups2.834 2 1.417 2.640 .076

55

Media Stereotyping

Within

Groups62.275 116 .537

Total 65.109 118

56