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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Media Stereotyping
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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Media Stereotyping
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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Media Stereotyping
(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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Media Stereotyping
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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Media Stereotyping
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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Media Stereotyping
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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Media Stereotyping
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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Media Stereotyping
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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Media Stereotyping
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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Media Stereotyping
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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Media Stereotyping
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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Media Stereotyping
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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Media Stereotyping
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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Media Stereotyping
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.
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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)[email protected]
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)[email protected]
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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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
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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
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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
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