Study Smarter. (n.d.). Ethnocentrism. Retrieved 2022, May 10, from: https://www.studysmarter.de/en/explanations/psychology/issues-and-debates-in-psychology/ethnocentrism/ Show Thalmayer, A. G., Toscanelli, C., & Arnett, J. J. (2021). The neglected 95% revisited: Is American psychology becoming less American? American Psychologist, 76(1), 116–129. Tutor2U. (2021, March 22). Issues & Debates: Evaluating Culture Bias. https://www.tutor2u.net/psychology/reference/issues-debates-evaluating-culture-bias From the dawn of the nineteenth century up to present time, the world evolved quickly and was endowed with lots of different cultures. The disparity between these cultures created certain links that brought each closer to one another. In this connection, the uniqueness of one culture as compared to another helps determine the type of interaction made between two or more dissimilar cultures. Depending on the level of respect and sensitivity that one cultural group has to another, the interaction is either good (the relativistic view) or bad (the ethnocentric view). If you're seeing this message, it means we're having trouble loading external resources on our website. If you're behind a web filter, please make sure that the domains *.kastatic.org and *.kasandbox.org are unblocked. \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)
Ethnocentrism, in contrast to cultural relativism, is the tendency to look at the world primarily from the perspective of one’s own culture. Learning Objectives
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Ethnocentrism, a term coined by William Graham Sumner, is the tendency to look at the world primarily from the perspective of your own ethnic culture and the belief that that is in fact the “right” way to look at the world. This leads to making incorrect assumptions about others’ behavior based on your own norms, values, and beliefs. For instance, reluctance or aversion to trying another culture’s cuisine is ethnocentric. Social scientists strive to treat cultural differences as neither inferior nor superior. That way, they can understand their research topics within the appropriate cultural context and examine their own biases and assumptions at the same time. This approach is known as “cultural relativism.” Cultural relativism is the principle that an individual person’s beliefs and activities should be understood by others in terms of that individual’s own culture. A key component of cultural relativism is the concept that nobody, not even researchers, comes from a neutral position. The way to deal with our own assumptions is not to pretend that they don’t exist but rather to acknowledge them, and then use the awareness that we are not neutral to inform our conclusions. An example of cultural relativism might include slang words from specific languages (and even from particular dialects within a language). For instance, the word “tranquilo” in Spanish translates directly to “calm” in English. However, it can be used in many more ways than just as an adjective (e.g., the seas are calm). Tranquilo can be a command or suggestion encouraging another to calm down. It can also be used to ease tensions in an argument (e.g., everyone relax) or to indicate a degree of self-composure (e.g., I’m calm). There is not a clear English translation of the word, and in order to fully comprehend its many possible uses, a cultural relativist would argue that it would be necessary to fully immerse oneself in cultures where the word is used.  3.1E: Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism is shared under a CC BY-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts. What is a example of ethnocentrism and cultural relativism?Cultural relativism tries to counter ethnocentrism by promoting the understanding of cultural practices that are unfamiliar to other cultures such as eating insects, genocides or genital cutting. Take for example, the common practice of same-sex friends in India walking in public while holding hands.
What is an example of ethnocentrism?A good example of ethnocentrism is how in America you are supposed to look someone in the eyes when speaking to them. However, in other non-American cultures, you are not supposed to look someone in the eyes when speaking to them.
What are the similarities and differences between cultural relativism and ethnocentrism?Ethnocentrism involves looking at another culture from the perspective of one's own culture while cultural relativism involves looking at a foreign culture by its own perspective instead of one's own culture.
What is the difference between ethnocentrism and cultural relativism quizlet?Ethnocentrism — the tendency to assume that one's own culture and way of life represent the norm or are superior to all others. Cultural Relativism — the viewing of people's behavior from the perspective of their own culture.
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