Intercultural Communication

Yunying Zhang

24Stereotyping and Communication

Abstract: Stereotyping, a printing technology invented in China, is now widely and figuratively used to refer to mental images we have about different social groups and the trait associations imprinted in our head. We cannot not stereotype at certain point of time in our social cognition when we put things into categories. Studies show that we can grow beyond stereotyping when we care about cognitive accuracy, endorse the egalitarian values and social-equality norms, and live free of stereotype threat. Following Lasswell’s communication process model, who → says what → in which channel → to whom → with what effect, taking goals and contexts into consideration, and turning it into a process model ...