The Effect of Political Realignments During an Armed Conflict on Ethnic Stereotypes

Abstract

A stereotype check-list was administered to 42 postgraduate students in India on December 3, 1971 (before the 14 day Indo-Pakistan war started) and on December 14, 1971 (two days before the end of the war), asking them to attribute to each of the seven nationalities five traits which they considered as most characteristic of them. The results of the study indicate that political realignements during the war affected the favorability-unfavorability of the stereotypes assigned to various groups. The perception of the nations favoring India became more positive, whereas the perception of those favoring Pakistan became more negative. The self-image of Indians also improved.