STEREOTYPING IN THE CONTEXT OF CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION

The aspect of peoples' active immigration to foreign countries is critical in the modern world. Despite the adoption of multiculturalism and tolerance policy by many countries, there are still certain barriers that make intercultural communication quite complicated. One of the most significant reasons for that is stereotyping, which affects society in every field. Many individuals tend to hold certain opinions, which may in reality be partially or completely wrong, about other social groups identified on grounds such as gender, ethnicity, race, religious beliefs, and treat them in a way corresponding to their convictions. Humans develop stereotypes when they are either unwilling or unable to obtain all of the information they would need to make fair judgments about people or situations, which is an inevitable process in the modern world. Bombarded with information from social media, which is not always accurate, one learns to accuse certain groups of political and cultural clashes. Representatives of such groups may find this type of behavior insulting, which, as a result, could potentially lead to conflicts. Seeing as conflicts are what cross-cultural communication is supposed to prevent from occurring, as it is also supposed to develop strong and lasting relationships between people of different cultural backgrounds, it is essential that we recognize such issue as stereotyping which is very problematic for successful communication today. Acknowledging cultural peculiarities and engaging in intercultural dialogue is especially critical for international trade in form of negotiation, transactions, and deals. In fact, stereotyping is a cross-cultural phenomenon, which is almost inevitable due to people's behavioral patterns and psychological components. Therefore, an in-depth study is required for uniting people and preventing all possible misunderstandings in business communication and daily life situations. The main aim of the study is to identify stereotypes about various social groups and cultures, outline their positive and negative effects on human perception, and introduce possible solutions to the problem based on the analysis of scientific studies and publications. Focusing on specific examples the study represents the reasons for certain opinions about various nationalities based on historical, traditional, and cultural aspects. The research serves the purpose of becoming a foundation for further studies in cross-cultural communication, as well as helping to execute a deeper examination of teenage and adult behavior based on stereotyping.