The Influence Of The Message Sources National Identity On Chinese International Students Attitudes

Although international students' acculturation and psychological status have been studied by cross-cultural scholars, the question of whether they are more likely to take recommendations from their own national group or the host national group has been minimally studied. Based on Social Identity Theory, this paper predicted that Chinese international students in the U.S. are more easily persuaded by a co-national (Chinese) source than an American source. A 2 (source national identity) by 2 (message valence) factor design was conducted among 144 Chinese international students. Results were not in the predicted direction. Participants were persuaded more by an American source than a Chinese source, though the difference was only marginally significant. There was no significant difference in perceived source credibility or similarity. However, when co-national identification level was controlled, source identity and message valence interacted to influence perceived credibility. Possible reasons for these findings are discussed. -- Abstract.