Media Influence on Russian Students in Their Perception of America

Abstract

The method of survey was employed in this study. A total of 87 Russian students were surveyed for this thesis project. The first group includes Russian students who have never been to America ("Russian Russians"); the second group consists of Russian students who go to school in America or have visited the United States ("Americanized Russians"). Descriptive statistics were examined and t-tests and standard regressions were conducted to analyze information gathered about the media consumption of participants, compare their attitudes toward America by group, and find relationships between media consumption and attitudes of students toward America. Russian students with Internet access have a more positive image of America than Russian students who do not have Internet access. The Internet provides users with different types of information from different sources. Bilingual students such as "Americanized Russians" have access to both Russian and American sources, which partially balances their beliefs and opinions of America and reduces prejudices, stereotypes, and myths. A similar pattern of logic can be applied to another finding on the influence of American media on Russian attitudes toward America. The principle of proximity to news events can be applied to explain some of the results of this study. "Russian Russians" who did not believe they could ever visit America would have less interest in news about America. These young students did not believe in the "American dream" shown by American TV. A lack of knowledge can also influence the image of America in minds of Russians. "Russian Russian" students seemed to have a more limited knowledge of the United States of America than "Americanized Russian" students. Finally, some of the "Russian Russian" participants could not recall or identify sources of information about America.