European Journal zyxwvu of Social Psychology, Vol. 26, 663675 (1996) zyx Influence of student exchange on national stereotypes, attitudes and perceived group variability z CHARLES STANGOR zy University of Maryland, U.S.A. KLAUS JONAS Universitat Tubingen, Germany WOLFGANG STR 0 EB E Universiteit Utrecht, the Netherlands zy and MILES HEWSTONE University of Wales, CardH, zy U. K. Abstract The present research studied changes in stereotypes, attitudes and perceived variability of national groups within a sample of US. college students who spent one year studying in either West Germany' or Great Britain. Subjects' stereotypes and attitudes toward host country members changed significantly during their stay, whereas attitudes and stereotypes toward control nationalities did not, and neither attitudes nor stereotypes further changed during the first nine months after subjects had returned home. On the other hand, perceptions of group variability changed significantly both during the stay and after departure from the host country. Although group perceptions generally became less positive over the course of the sojourn, these changes did not seem to be due to negative intergroup contact. Rather, the more contact students reported having with 'West and East Germans are differentiated zyxwv because the study was begun before the r e u d h t i o n . Addressee for correspondence: Charles Stangor, Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-441 1. zyxwvuts This research was supported in part by stipends from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the Cardiff Research Initiative. We thank Regina Eder-Jonas for her diligent help in collecting and coding data, and Axel Markert, Dr Wolfgang Rug-fast, Heribert b e e r , Robert A s h and Professor Richard Hodder-Williams for their help in recruiting students. CCC 0046-2772/96/040663-13 01996 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Received 6 September I994 Accepted 25 September 1995