Impressions of Nationalities—an Alternative to the ‘Stereotype’ Approach

Abstract

Student subjects were presented with results of an opinion survey dealing with political, religious and social issues. Their task was to indicate the likelihood of the survey having been conducted in each of a series of countries listed, including Britain. There was a high degree of consensus on the type of nation considered likely. Perceived similarity to Britain of the countries was assessed, and the relative saliency of various criteria determined. Content analysis of verbal reports indicated that the same judgments were made on a variety of different grounds, and yielded insights into the modes of impression formation. Characteristics of the Ss’ ‘cognitive maps’ of Western European and Communist countries are discussed.

Professional Stereotypes of First-year Medical Students

“…Jahoda (1966) has pointed out that the traditional method of studying national stereotypes – for example, Katz and Braly (1933) and Gilbert (1951)– has several drawbacks. In particular, attaching adjectives to nations elicits only a very superficial response from subjects, especially the more sophisticated (Eysenck and Crown, 1948).…”