Research Article

Do Counterstereotype Examples in Films Influence People’s Stereotypes of African Americans?

Fen CongFaculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13, 9PL, United Kingdom.*

* Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract

Due to the higher consumption of social media in the development of technology and the pandemic of Covid-19, social media effects on people were studied. It has been proved that characters in films can influence people’s thoughts, and by showing counter stereotypical role models to children, their gender stereotypes changed in the short term. Since African Americans have constantly been subjected to negative stereotypes in films and everyday lives for a long time, this study proposal aimed to study the counterstereotypes in films and cultural effects on film major students’ stereotypes by utilising the Stereotype Content Model (SCM) and the Implicit Attitude Test (IAT) to measure their explicit and implicit attitudes. Since the study had no chance to carry out, this study predicted the possible results that both Chinese and American students’ attitudes toward negative racial stereotypes declined after a designed lecture on stereotypes. Conversely, it was also expected that their perspectives might not change because the designed lecture was not practical enough.

Keywords: stereotypes; counterstereotypes; Implicit Attitude Test (IAT); Stereotype Content Model (SCM)
Published: February 28, 2023
DOI: 10.54254/2753-7064/2/2022511
Volume: CHR Vol.2
pp. 410-415
Download PDF

References

  1. Stereotypes | Gendered Innovations. (n.d.). Gendered Innovations. https://genderedinnovations.stanford.edu/terms/stereotypes.html#:%7E:text=A%20stereotype%20is%20a%20widely,social%20institutions%20and%20wider%20culture.
  2. Cardon, P. W. (2010). Using Films to Learn About the Nature of Cross-Cultural Stereotypes in Intercultural Business Communication Courses. Business Communication Quarterly, 73(2), 150–165. https://doi.org/10.1177/1080569910365724
  3. Statista. (2021, July 9). Time spent watching video content in the U.S. Q3 2020, by screen. https://www.statista.com/statistics/223245/monthly-time-spent-on-watching-videos-in-the-us/
  4. Tsfati, Y., & Cohen, J. (2012). Perceptions of Media and Media Effects: The International Encyclopedia of Media Studies. Published. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444361506.wbiems995
  5. Mahmood, I. (2013). Influence and Importance of Cinema on the Lifestyle of Educated Youth: A study on University Students of Bangladesh. IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science, 17(6), 77–80. https://doi.org/10.9790/0837-1767780
  6. Lule, J. (2021). Globalization and Media: Global Village of Babel (4th ed.). Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
  7. Olsson, M., & Martiny, S. E. (2018). Does Exposure to Counterstereotypical Role Models Influence Girls’ and Women’s Gender Stereotypes and Career Choices? A Review of Social Psychological Research. Frontiers in Psychology, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02264
  8. Farrelly, P. (Director). (2018). Green Book [film]. Dreamworks Pictures, Innisfree Pictures, Cinetic Media, Alibaba Pictures, Louisiana Entertainment, Wessler Entertainment
  9. Fiske, S. T. (2018). Stereotype Content: Warmth and Competence Endure. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27(2), 67–73. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721417738825
  10. Fiske, S. T., Cuddy, A. J. C., Glick, P., & Xu, J. (2002). A model of (often mixed) stereotype content: Competence and warmth respectively follow from perceived status and competition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(6), 878–902. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.82.6.878
  11. Greenwald, A. G., McGhee, D. E., & Schwartz, J. L. K. (1998). Measuring individual differences in implicit cognition: The implicit association test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(6), 1464–1480. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.74.6.1464
  12. Stereotypes content model. (2021). [Graph]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereotype_content_model
  13. Spencer-Rodgers, J., Williams, M. J., Hamilton, D. L., Peng, K., & Wang, L. (2007). Culture and group perception: Dispositional and stereotypic inferences about novel and national groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93(4), 525–543. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.93.4.525