Direct and Mediated Intercultural Contact: Koreans' Attitudes toward U.S. Americans

Abstract

Guided by the intergroup contact hypothesis, this study tested two models examining the associations among Korean young adults' consumption of U.S. dramas, direct contact with a U.S. American person, and their attitudes toward U.S. Americans in general. Results demonstrated that personal contact and mediated contact had a positive effect on intergroup attitudes, but that frequency of personal contact was a negative contributor. Mediated contact had different and stronger influences on participants' intergroup attitudes when they did not have personal contact with U.S. Americans. In addition, intergroup anxiety played a significant role in the contact modes and attitudes links.

Keywords:

• Direct and Mediated Intercultural Contact
• Intergroup Attitudes
• Parasocial Contact Hypothesis
• U.S. Dramas
• Koreans' Attitudes

Acknowledgments

This paper is based on the first author's dissertation under the direction of Yan Bing Zhang. An earlier version of this paper won a top paper award from the International and Intercultural Division at the 2010 annual conference of the National Communication Association, San Francisco, CA.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Cheongmi Shim

Cheongmi Shim (Ph.D., University of Kansas, 2010) is an Instructor at Bowling Green State University

Yan Bing Zhang

Yan Bing Zhang (Ph.D., University of Kansas, 2002) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Kansas

Jake Harwood

Jake Harwood (Ph.D., University of California—Santa Barbara) is a Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Arizona