Prejudice in the Intercultural Communication

Prejudice in the Intercultural CommunicationPrejudice refers to negative attitudes toward other people that are based on faulty and inflexible generalization.Prejudiced attitudes include irrational feelings of dislike and even hatred for certain groups or an individual because he or she is a member of that group ,based perceptions and beliefs about the group members that are not based on direct experiences and firsthand knowledge, and a readiness to behave in negative and unjust ways toward members of the group.We all are prejudice to some degree. Those people who are highly prejudiced tend to ignore information not consistent with their faulty and inflexible generalization. A case in point is the racial crimination in America. It is suggested that a large percentage of European Americans are highly prejudiced against African Americans, not only that ,they are also prejudiced against Chinese Americans because the first Chinese immigrants were poor and heavy laborers.Even though later both African and Chinese Americans improved their positions, these European American still felt they were higher. Now take Chinese attitudes toward Japanese as another example.Many Chinese view all Japanese as invaders, cruel, greedy and bloody. Even though they know some Japanese are friendly and nice ,they refuse to change their attitudes.We can see from the above example the negative part of being prejudiced. But why does it still exist among us ? The reason lies in its functions.What function does prejudice serve ? The first function prejudice performs is to help us either avoid punishment or obtain rewards in our own culture. For example, if you express prejudicial statements about certain people, other people may like you more. It is also easier to simply dislike and be prejudiced toward members of other groups because they can be dismissde without going through the effort necessary to adjust to them. The second function is to protect us from information that might damage ourselve images. For example people who are unsuccessful in business may feel threatened by groupw whose members are successful. Prejudice may funcion to protect one’sself-image by denigrating or devaluing those who might make us feel less worthy. The third one is to allow us to express important aspects of our lives. If people believe that their group has certain qualities that are unique, valuable, good, or in some way special, their prejudicial attitudes toward others is a way of expressing those values. The final one is to assist us in organizing the world around us. For instance, Chinese will be mindful that the invitation for a meal given on the street can just be a polite greeting. But a westerner who doesn’t know this and finally accepts it would be viewed as bold and impolite. So the invitor would think only our Chinese are polite, modest, and considerate.It is suggested that there is an ambivalence inherent in our prejudice. If people are going to make a negative comment about strangers, they preface their comment with a claim of not being prejudiced. For example, if one wants to say something about blacks, he would start with, I have nothing against blacks, but they are really dirty, aggressive,crime-ridden. Another strategy we use in expressing prejudiced views is to explain our personal experience. If someone else doen’t agree with your opinion because he or she thinks yours is partial, more often you will probaly say, But I did this once,then others might probably shut their mouth. Here we can see the way we talk about people who are different is, in large part, a function of how we want to be seen by our ingroup.This then leads us to identify strongly with the ingroup and see outgroup members as typical of their group.Negative ethnic prejudice is not the only type of prejudice affecting our communication with strangers, but also with members of that group. Among all other forms of prejudice, two are worth mentioning, one is sexism, the other ageism. Ageism involves negative attitudes toward people who are older than we are. For example, teenagers may be prejudiced against people who are over 30, while the middle aged may be prejudice against the retired. Ageism can emerge from generation gap.For sexism, it occurs when we assign characteristics to others based on their sex. It is not biological sex differences but overarching approaches to interacting with others. Masculine cultures value achievement, assertiveness, heroism, and material wealth. Feminine cultures valuerelationships, caring for the less fortunate, and overall quality of life. Sexism is manifested by viewing women as genetically inferior, weak and dependent, that is quite common among college graduates. Some government offices and some companies would put up notices before these graduates, Man only! They may probably have plenty of reasons to do so. But first of all, they are sexist.All in all, differences can lead to prejudice. The big problem to reduce prejudice is to bridge differences. But how? First, seek information about other cultures.Prejudice stems from ignorance. But knowledge is power. It can help us to understand. Y ou can no longer rely only on the assumptions of your own cultural heritage. This is not to tear down the value of your own culture, it is to make you aware of the richness that is availlable to you in other cultures. Second, ask questions. Be prepared to share information from others and about yourself, and be sensitive in the way you ask if you are not quite sure about the differences. Open and face to face communication always helps in reducing misunderstanding. Third, tolerate ambiguity. Communicating with someone from another culture produces uncertainty, which can be uncomfortable. Learn to tolerate the discomfort until you understand. And try to avoid negative judgments simply because you don’t understand it. Meanwhile, resist thinking that your own culture has all the answers. It has its strengths, so do other culture. If everyone from different cultures can think in this way and act in this way, I believe prejudice will be tremendously reduced, and our communication will be happy and enjoyable.Works cited[1] Larry A. Samovar, Rarchard E. Porter and Lisa A.Stefani:Communication Between Cultures 外语教学与研究出版社，2000年[2] E.Linden: Foreign Affairs, 75(February 1996),64[3] J.S.Starr：“The Middle East Food Alarm,” The Christian ScienceMonitor, 26 October 1995,19.[4] 贾玉新：跨文化交际学，上海教育出版社，1998年[5] 胡文仲：跨文化交际与英语学习，上海译文出版社，1988年。