Formation of Attitudes of Asian Students Toward the Japanese and Other Cultures: Understanding in Terms of Ethnicity

Following up on Yamazaki, Taira, Nakamura & Yokoyama (1997), the present study examined the relation between Asian students' attitudes toward the Japanese people and other ethnic cultures, and factors affecting attitudes. The attitude formation model used was developed in terms of ethnicity. Participants in the study - 399 Asian students at Japanese language schools in Japan - rated constructs such as attitudes toward the Japanese, attitudes regarding other ethnic cultures, friendships, experiences, and feeling about Japanese respect for their own ethnicity. The main findings were as follows : (1) students' cognition of Japanese respect for their own ethnicity played a crucial role in the development of positive attitudes toward the Japanese and other cultures ; (2) Chinese students, more than Korean students, felt that Japanese were more interested in their own ethnic culture, and these students also had comparatively more favorable experiences, friendships with Japanese, and positive images of the Japanese people ; (3) compared to Asian university students in Japan, Asian language school students had fewer positive experiences, more negative experiences, and a lower intention to interact with Japanese people and people from other cultures.