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What is Ethnocentrism? The term Ethnocentrism can be broken down into three parts. The first, is the prefix, 'ethno', which alludes to race, people or culture. The second is 'Center', and lastly we have 'ism', which denotes a theory or belief system. Put the parts together and we have a word that describes the belief that means something like; "...my group (of people) is in the centre and is therefore the most important...". |
There are many nations, communities or cultures that are centered around a single ethnic identity. For example, Japan is a country of Japanese people, Thailand of Thais and Denmark of Danes. A person who believes this is a good thing can be described as ethnocentric.
There are many other countries that developed in different ways and are made up from many different ethnicities, such as, Brazil, India or the USA.
Beginning in the 1960s, many people in western cultures began to regard ethnocentrism very negatively, as against the western values of acceptance, tolerance and humility. Ethnocentrism often results in people from other ethnic groups, always remaining outside of the community and unable to contribute to the culture in any meaningful way.
On the positive side, people within ethnocentric cultures share a common identity and close bonds with each other.
There are many other countries that developed in different ways and are made up from many different ethnicities, such as, Brazil, India or the USA.
Beginning in the 1960s, many people in western cultures began to regard ethnocentrism very negatively, as against the western values of acceptance, tolerance and humility. Ethnocentrism often results in people from other ethnic groups, always remaining outside of the community and unable to contribute to the culture in any meaningful way.
On the positive side, people within ethnocentric cultures share a common identity and close bonds with each other.
Ethnocentric behavior
This is to look at the world from the perspective of your own culture and judge everybody outside by the customs and conventions you have learned - from within your own culture.
Ethnocentrism comes naturally to all of us and is nothing to be ashamed of, however, if we can learn to recognize our own ethnocentric behavior our interactions and relationships with other people from different cultures are more likely to be successful.
Ethnocentric ways thinking can lead to the feeling that our own culture is superior to other cultures. If you believe that your own culture does things, ‘the correct way’, then it is easy to view different cultures and different behaviors as always 'incorrect', and therefore, 'inferior'. So, judging people from other cultures by the rules and conventions of our own culture isn't good for communication. In order to avoid ethnocentric behavior, it is necessary to view people from other cultures objectively and without judgment. Of course, this doesn't mean that we have to compromise our own principles and accept 'rude' behavior, but if we want to communicate with others, then we can't expect everybody else to be just like us.
To see a good example of ethnocentrism look at maps of the world from three different countries. The world to a mapmaker from the USA, naturally would feature the USA at the center. Whereas, maps produced in Britain or China feature those countries at the center.
Understanding ethnocentrism doesn't mean you can't love and be proud of your own culture. It just means that you can recognize that others have the same feelings about their culture too. So, maybe we can agree that it would be better to avoid possible conflicts with others and enjoy interacting with positively them instead!
This is to look at the world from the perspective of your own culture and judge everybody outside by the customs and conventions you have learned - from within your own culture.
Ethnocentrism comes naturally to all of us and is nothing to be ashamed of, however, if we can learn to recognize our own ethnocentric behavior our interactions and relationships with other people from different cultures are more likely to be successful.
Ethnocentric ways thinking can lead to the feeling that our own culture is superior to other cultures. If you believe that your own culture does things, ‘the correct way’, then it is easy to view different cultures and different behaviors as always 'incorrect', and therefore, 'inferior'. So, judging people from other cultures by the rules and conventions of our own culture isn't good for communication. In order to avoid ethnocentric behavior, it is necessary to view people from other cultures objectively and without judgment. Of course, this doesn't mean that we have to compromise our own principles and accept 'rude' behavior, but if we want to communicate with others, then we can't expect everybody else to be just like us.
To see a good example of ethnocentrism look at maps of the world from three different countries. The world to a mapmaker from the USA, naturally would feature the USA at the center. Whereas, maps produced in Britain or China feature those countries at the center.
Understanding ethnocentrism doesn't mean you can't love and be proud of your own culture. It just means that you can recognize that others have the same feelings about their culture too. So, maybe we can agree that it would be better to avoid possible conflicts with others and enjoy interacting with positively them instead!
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