Images, according to sociologists, are created through both formal and informal channels. Textbooks belong to the former category; the mass media and personal contacts belong to the latter. Novels and films are especially influential in shaping the image of a people.
形象的形成大致透過正式和非正式的管道：教科書屬正式管道；大眾傳播媒體（如電影、電視、小說、報章雜誌……）和國民外交（一個人或一群人的接觸，如觀光、留學、做生意等）則屬後者。