Date of Award

5-1999

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Communication

First Advisor

Marshall Prisbell

Second Advisor

Owen Mordaunt

Third Advisor

Michael Hilt

Abstract

This thesis examined what communication stereotypes are held by Caucasian college students. The literature review focused on defining stereotypes, the function and roles of stereotypes, how stereotypes serve as communication barriers, and findings of previous studies of stereotypes. The research question asked what are the communication stereotypes of African-Americans, Japanese-Americans and Mexican-Americans as maintained by Caucasian undergraduate college students? Participants in the study were 200 Caucasian, undergraduate students who were asked to complete a survey regarding typical communication characteristics of each group in question. The results indicated uniformity in response to Japanese- and African- Americans with less agreement on characteristics of Mexican-Americans. Discussion, interpretation of results, and future research are explored, especially in the context of the development of stereotypes and how they impact individual perceptions.

Comments

A Thesis Presented to the Department of Communication and the Faculty of the Graduate College University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts University of Nebraska at Omaha.

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