Русские стереотипы об американцах

The project on English language

The theme of the project:

Russian stereotypes about Americans.

Semenenko Angelina

10th grade

About the project topic:

The question of perception and communication of people of different nationalities (including Russians and Americans) has recently become the focus of experimental attention of many people. People's perception of each other is fulfilled through the prism of established standards - conditioned beliefs that allow them to quickly construct answers and perceive solutions. When meeting residents of other countries, peoples, and cultures, people naturally have a relaxed tendency to accept their behavior from the perspective of their own personal culture. The mutual understanding of foreign language, the symbolism of gestures, facial expressions and other elements of action every minute leads to a distorted interpretation of the reason for their actions, which easily generates a whole series of negative feelings.


In psychology, there are three general variants of stereotypes: standards of perception, actions and interpretation of behavior. Standards of perception express the concept of some people about the personality of others. standards of action outline the norms, customs, and traditions of one's own and another's ethno-cultural community. these stereotypes can be correct or erroneous.


The presence and intra connect standards of perception thoroughly complicates intercultural interaction. People think about the representatives of other ethno-cultural companies on the basis of popular stereotypes, developed on the basis of the actual experiment of communication of diverse peoples throughout history. And the Americans are not spared, about their character and action also formed stereotypes, but America is a country that provides a kind of basis for the creation of its standard perception, which is unlikely to give all the countries of the world combined.


Stereotype#1. Who just did not imagine this picture, as if every American is sitting in some McDonald's and eating a bunch of French fries and a sea of hamburgers! Everyone knows such names as KFC, McDonald's, Burger King. As soon as they appeared in Russia, about every Russian thought that this is American food, this is how they eat, but friends, I will say the cruel truth.

In fact, if you visit America, it will be infinitely painful to find a decent person sitting in one of these fast food chains. You will have the opportunity to notice only homeless, slovenly and poor people there. That's not what you Thought, is it? Americans naturally eat in a variety of restaurants, cafes, because the food there is inexpensive, and the quality is usually very high. even a builder will go to a local cafe than to the same KFC.



Stereotype#2. Americans are really quite hypocritical, but first of all this hypocrisy is harmless. Americans are very fond of saying what they want to hear from them. First of all, this is due to the fact that they do not want to offend someone, and try to be overly polite. And if for this purpose it is necessary to embellish, lie, cheat, then it will not be difficult for them. Most cases of such hypocrisy occur at the domestic level and have an exceptionally profound impact.

Stereotype#3. As surprising as it may sound, when you move to the United States, the empathy of Americans will catch your eye very much. almost always, Americans are sincerely responsive, constantly help. If you are on the street, ask a passerby to tell you the way, because he will do everything possible to explain to you how to pass. He will pretend that he will call someone to clarify if he does not know himself – but he will help.

Stereotype#4. Almost all the media in Russia are very fond of exaggerating the topics in which various shootings are constantly taking place in America, as if people are fighting there every day. yes, indeed, the right to carry a gun is fixed in the constitution, but the harsh truth is that in Russia, murders occur 50% more than in America. However, in America, the population is twice as large.

Stereotype#5. This stereotype is unlikely to be refuted, because it is true. Americans will not share information about their salary, income, or business with you. They don't talk about money here. Yes, you will not be told about problems at home or at work. They always keep it all to themselves, even if you are in a close relationship. This is immediately felt in the conversation – even you are already friends, you can talk for hours about sports, movies and Trump, but you will not get personal.

Stereotype#6. Americans feel their rights and freedoms, so they behave loosely. Suddenly, there are also two ends of the same stick - someone uses permissiveness, and someone abuses it. An American can walk down the street in headphones and dance on the go - and no one will squint, poke a finger, twist at the temple. If he likes it that way, let him do it. For him, they will be extremely happy that he is having so much fun. Maybe even someone will be charged with positive emotions. And the other will go with a boom box on his shoulder and knock loudly, disturbing the peace of others. But no one will make comments to him, they can only report to the police. This freedom is an excellent product of democracy. Its disadvantage will be that it is regularly abused.