The reproduction of culture: Communication processes tend to maintain cultural stereotypes

Abstract

Culture can be regarded as a system of meaning that is produced and maintained through the dynamic production and reproduction of meanings in the social activities of individuals. To illustrate such a process, this paper examined the changes to a story when it is transmitted between several individuals and contains information relevant to cultural stereotypes. It was argued that people favor the reproduction of stereotype-consistent over stereoptype-inconsistent information in communication, rendering the story increasingly more stereotypical and therefore maintaining the cultural stereotype. A story about a football player, who exhibited stereotype-relevant behaviors of his occupation, was ..