Mutual perceptions of Chinese and German students at a German university: stereotypes, media influence, and evidence for a negative contact hypothesis

ABSTRACT

In recent years, China and Germany have become invaluable partners in business, politics, and science. However, psychological research indicates that the countries’ large-scale affinity does not translate onto the individual level, with many Germans expressing more reservations towards China than vice versa. Previous content analyses have connected this effect to imbalances in media tonality, as German media mostly criticise Chinese politics, contrasting with idealised portrayals from the other direction. Acknowledging the particularly high number of Chinese exchange students in Germany, we investigate mutual stereotypes (both explicit and implicit) in the context of a German university, while also exploring students’ perceptions of media tonality. Despite observing mostly positive explicit stereotypes, we find that both groups strongly prefer their country of origin on an implicit level, matching their generally sparse contact in university life. Based on our results, we discuss implications for students, educators, and decision-makers in the media.

KEYWORDS:

• international students
• media tonality
• implicit attitudes
• ethnic stereotype
• Sino-German relations

Acknowledgments

We thank Alexandra Jost for her assistance in the collection of data.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG; German Research Foundation) [grant number 1780 (‘CrossWorlds’)].