VII. List of Appendices
5. DISCUSSION
The results from the research question and hypotheses are reported in Table 13 below, followed by the discussion about the results, limitations and implications of study.
Table 13
Results from Addressing Research Question and Hypotheses
Research Question/Hypotheses Results
H1: There will be a significant difference in stereotype endorsement between those with higher monthly expenditures and those with lower monthly expenditures
Rejected
H2: Contact with Africa will reduce stereotype endorsement of:
a) primitive Africa b) socioeconomic status c) environment
Supported Supported Rejected H3: Western Media Exposure will increase stereotype endorsement of:
a) primitive Africa b) socioeconomic status c) environment
Rejected Rejected Rejected H4: People who perceive bias in the media portrayals of Africa will have
less stereotype endorsement of:
a) primitive Africa b) socioeconomic status c) environment
Rejected Supported Supported
H5: Perceived bias of media portrayals will mediate the effect of Western
media exposure Rejected
H6: Cosmopolitanism will reduce stereotype endorsement of:
a) primitive Africa b) socioeconomic status c) environment#
Rejected Rejected Rejected
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H7: People with higher level of cosmopolitanism are likely to have more contact with Africa
Supported RQ1: What is the best set of predictor variables among the following
independent variables: a) contact with Africa b) cosmopolitanism c) Western media Exposure d) perceived bias of portrayals?
Contact &
Perceived Bias of Media Portrayals
One thing that is clear from the results that emerge in our study is the small effect sizes of the independent variables contact and perceived bias of media portrayals on the stereotype endorsement subscales, primitive Africa, socioeconomic status and environment.
They account for only 17% of the variance. This suggests that although they may be some statistically significant relationships, there is little practical significance of the results. This may be partly due of the poor variance in the independent variables.
Overall, there was very low contact with Africa in the sample; more than 80%
reported no contact at all with Africa. While university campuses in Taiwan boast an increasing number of International students every year, the proportion of African students may be quite low. Taiwan has diplomatic relations with a few countries in Africa including Sao Tome and Principe, South Africa, Swaziland and Nigeria (About ATEF, n.d.). The student cultural exchanges coming to Taiwan from these countries is still low at this point.
Future studies may find a larger African presence on Taiwanese campuses, with more contact variance.
The majority of the sample is composed of females and spends less than NTD10000 a month. There is very little contact with Africa, although the sample tends to report more cosmopolitanism. These results point to a near total lack of interest and exposure to Africa among Taiwanese youth. One could argue that the language barrier, cultural protectionism and low level of African presence in Taiwan make it even harder for Taiwanese youth to
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have interest, contact or exposure in Africa. Future studies may control for contact and interest to further analyze the results.
Interestingly, overall stereotype endorsement levels were low. This suggests that while they may be aware of the common stereotypes, they were not as quick to accept them as truth. High level of education and media literacy expected of university students may account for this. Future studies that test on older or younger samples would be able to compare the difference.
The high level of cosmopolitanism but low Western media exposure may be
explained by the fact that the options provided in the survey were leaning towards platforms of African content, particularly for the Internet category. The cosmopolitanism scale may be pointing towards a desire to a cosmopolitan rather than actively being one. Future studies may consider doing qualitative analysis to better understand Taiwanese motivations (or lack thereof) when it comes to Africa.
Perceived bias of media portrayals reduces stereotype endorsement of socioeconomic status and environment. In other words, stereotypes about Africa earning less than Europeans, and being a jungle, for example, are less likely to be endorsement when one perceives bias in how Africa is portrayed in the media. This may be attributed to watching news and wildlife shows, thereby becoming more familiar with Africa. However, it seems that stereotypes about Africa being primitive is more strongly embedded as a stereotype, and accepted as an unchangeable reality.
Contact and perceived bias of media portrayals proved to be the best predictor
variables among the independent variables, and should therefore be considered as the avenue to approach for future education and relations towards Africa. Cultural exchanges and an emphasis on international knowledge in university education are key factors that may expand a favorable image and induce interest among Taiwanese students.
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5.1 Limitations
Educators, in the United States in particular, have been concerned about students’
lack of cultural awareness and knowledge of non-western countries, especially Africa.
Education materials are crammed with stereotypical concepts mainly about safari, wildlife, Bushmen in the Kalahari and the Maasai, which hinders learning (Osunde & Tlou, 1996).
This study aimed to compare Taiwanese university students to see if the same applies.
However, the low African contact in the selected universities was a major limitation in the study. Future studies may be more selective of universities that have higher African presence on campus.
5.2 Implications
TV programs, viewing movies in the cinema and the Internet are revealed are the key ways that Taiwanese university students are exposed to Western media. This implies that entertainment media content may play a better role in education about Africa. This is more likely to generate interest, and lead students to seek knowledge out through the Internet.
In Ukpokodu’s (1996) research, pre-service teachers developed an integrated social studies curriculum on Africa that would effectively increase knowledge rather than
perpetuate stereotypes. The curriculum addressed human and physical characterisitics, culture, people and geography of Africa. Similar educational initiatives could be used in Taiwan to raise knowledge and awareness of Africa. Table 13 summarizes the results from the research question and hypothesis testing.
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