After a previous study (Nozawa, 1995) on Japanese university students' ability in communicating with strangers was conducted, the writer extended his research to focus on Japanese attitudes toward ethnic groups and the acceptability and to compare the results with those of Australians.
The same questionnaire from the previous study, consisting of 5-scale multiple choice style sheets designed to determine attitudes toward 15 or 16 ethnic groups and their degree of acceptability for 10 different conditions. They were to be translated into English with some minor changes due to cultural differences.
The subjects consisted of 48 Japanese graduate students at Toyohashi University of Technology enrolled in An Introduction to Intergroup Communication and 32 Australian undergraduate students at Bond University and Gold Coast College of Technical and Further Education who had extensive intercultural experience. Therefore, the views expressed might not represent those of the general public.
The data reveals that there are some similarities and differences between the Japanese and Australians. First, both showed positive attitudes toward Westerners and rank them high and negative attitudes toward Arabs and Indians. However, while the Japanese rated Chinese people the most highly among Asians, Australians rated the Japanese the most highly among Asians.
Secondly, more than 70% of the Japanese had positive attitudes for Item 1 (becoming close friends), Item 2 (becoming close friends with their families), Item 3 (traveling together), Item 4 (their residing in Japan), Item 5 (commuting together), and Item 6 (their residing in the neighborhood) for British people, but they reacted negatively for Item 7 (their immigration to Japan), Item 8 (taking a bath together/sharing household facilities), Item 9 (living together) and Item 10 (getting married). On the other hand, Australians only agreed on Item 1 for 6 different ethnic groups and did not agree on other items under the same conditions. Combining both it can be said that Chinese people were the most highly ranked among Asians and accepted in both Japan and Australia while Japanese people were most highly ranked among Asians and accepted in Australia.
Finally, regarding attitudes toward other ethnic groups, the high ranking of Westerners and the low ranking of the Arabs and the Slavs was expected. However, the acceptability of other ethnic groups was quite different between the Japanese and Australians. This is probably due to differences of historical development of their societies and of acculturation. In addition, lack of extensive experience or intergroup contacts may be a factor.
Based on the results of this study, the writer stresses the need for intercultural communication classes and the need to study culture in foreign language classes.