Ethnocentrism

Abstract

This article identifies the basis of ethnocentrism. It defines ethnocentrism, locates it within two of the major sociological perspectives, and provides numerous forms and examples of ethnocentrism. The article goes on to address several questions: Why are people ethnocentric? How does ethnocentric thinking lead to stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination? Is there anything positive about ethnocentrism? And finally, what are the possible solutions, such as establishing a global culture and tolerance of other cultures, to problems caused by ethnocentrism? Ethnocentrism and its relationship to cultural relativism, multiculturalism, racism, and tolerance of one culture toward another are also discussed.

Overview

What is Ethnocentrism? Take the word "Ethnocentrism" apart to discover its roots. "Ethnic" means culture and heritage. "Centrism" refers to the center of something. The term "ethnocentrism" was introduced in the first decade of the twentieth century by William Graham Sumner in his book, Folkways. Its origin is from the Greek word for people, "ethnos." The word "centrism" characterizes the thoughts of a group, or a nation toward itself as being in the center.

Functionalist Perspectives of Ethnocentrism. A sociologist who follows a functionalist perspective might ask the question, what is positive about ethnocentrism?

One example of how some view ethnocentrism in a positive way involves a report of groups of White high school students and students of color who were required to attend racially segregated school assemblies in a US school. In each assembly, the test scores of each racial group were discussed and students encouraged to do better as a group, perhaps in the spirit of competition with one another. While many students, faculty, and parents believed the assemblies were racist in nature, test scores for each racial group did improve. The functionalist perspective would point to ethnocentrism's ability to develop a strong social integration among groups. Similarly, this technique is used among new military recruits who are encouraged, like the high school students, to be the best they can be.

But for the most part, ethnocentrism is viewed in a negative way. According to Cohen and Kennedy (2013), "Ethnocentrists see their community or nation as the model against which all others have to be judged. By implication other people's ways of thinking and behaviour are aberrant, strange and inferior."

According to Sumner, "ethnocentrism is the technical name for this view of things in which one's own group is the center of everything, and all others are scaled and rated with reference to it." In other words, what people in one culture find natural and normal, people in another culture might find absurd, and even disgusting. Moreover, these ideas of what is right and wrong, good or bad, can change over time and over cultures.

Ethnocentric Language. Attitudes and beliefs of the superiority of one's group over another shape a language that reinforces ethnocentrism. Ethnocentric language and name-calling to maintain separateness and superiority can be traced back to early civilizations, such as the Greeks and Romans, who called anyone other than themselves "barbarians." Historically, Jewish people referred to themselves as the "chosen people," as opposed to all who were not chosen, the Gentiles.

Further Insights

Examples of Ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism seems to be universal, existing not only in exotic tribal communities studied by Sumner in the early twentieth century, but also existing in modern, postindustrial societies such as the United States and all places in between. Following are a few examples of how ethnocentrism affects how one culture may view the rituals and traditions of other cultures, even over time.

Child Labor. Cultural notions regarding values, beliefs, norms, and folkways can also differ from one era to another within the same culture. Take the example of child labor in the United States. At one time, child labor was accepted as necessary not only on farms but also, during the Industrial Revolution, in factories. However, in the same modern American culture, child labor is reviled. In the contemporary US, childhood is viewed as a time of innocence and freedom. Given that view, Americans are often shocked to find that in other cultures such as in Morocco or Bangladesh, children are not only expected to work, but they are also sometimes sold into slavery, chained to machines in factories, or locked in rooms where they are forced to produce goods (goods which often end up in American stores or in American tourists' luggage as souvenirs).

Marriage Age for Females. Another example might be the marriage age of females. In the US, women can marry without their parents' consent usually at the age of eighteen; however, the trend is for women to marry at a median age of 28.4 (US Census, 2019). Few young women marry before age eighteen, and if they do (depending on the state in which they live) they must receive written permission from a parent. The age of the woman's intended spouse is expected not to vary beyond a few years. Older men who marry very young women in our culture are often ridiculed as "cradle robbers." However, in other cultures, such as in Bangladesh, young girls are often married at the age of ten and sometimes to men much older than themselves, often for economic reasons. Sometimes the family does not want the costly burden of caring for the child, or perhaps the girl's sexual reputation must be protected by marrying her off soon after puberty.

When Americans judge the child labor practices or early marriage patterns for females of other cultures based on their own cultural beliefs and values, they are practicing ethnocentric behavior. According to Sumner, each culture thinks that its folkways, those routine behaviors of the group which serve to set them apart from another group, are the best ones. These attitudes serve to strengthen the beliefs and adherence to those folkways, causing people to cling stubbornly to the practices in question by outside groups.

Disabilities. Weeber (1999) describes the experience of a disabled woman who comes to know and to experience prejudice and ethnocentrism. She discovers that as a White woman, she should be part of a privileged social class, but because of her disability and her subsequent need to use a wheelchair for mobility, she compares the discrimination she faces from those who are ambulatory, to the racism people of color experience because of the ethnocentric notions. Using the term "decolonize," Weeber discovers the need to safeguard her own mind and sanity by rooting out the negative feedback she receives from the community surrounding her.

Sports. Fans who root for their favorite team often display ethnocentric behavior, which can lead to racism and discrimination. Imagine the rivalry between two American high school football teams, with the fans touting the superiority of their team over the other. Certainly, the rivalry can be good-natured, but it can turn ugly, especially in the larger sports arenas.

During the 2007–08 football season in Europe, serious incidents of ethnocentric attitudes that could be called racism were observed. For example, during one game, Newcastle United team supporters chanted anti-Islamic taunts at an Egyptian player on the other team, calling him a terrorist and accusing him of carrying a bomb. Incidents have become so routine, that a group calling itself Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) began a grassroots campaign to support anti-racism projects.

Why are People Ethnocentric? Most people, according to Barger (2004), do not believe that they are ethnocentric. They believe that they are tolerant of others and have no prejudices. But Barger disagrees, saying that everyone is ethnocentric; in fact, ethnocentrism, he argues, cannot be avoided or overcome by a change in heart. We make incorrect assumptions about the behaviors of others that we don't understand and those assumptions, based on our lack of knowledge, or our limited point of view, cause a false sense of superiority; such is ethnocentrism.

For an example of such false assumptions, imagine a White person spying some people from the Cree nation sitting around, not working. They view the Cree as lazy rather than industrious. They have not seen the Cree on a hunting expedition that was not only very "busy," but also strenuous. They do not value the relaxation that the Cree values. The White people have different values that cause them to make these false assumptions about the Cree they have observed. They may go on to stereotype "all" Indigenous people as being lazy from this one observation. The ethnocentricity of the White people is caused by their inability to have experienced what the Cree have experienced.

Problems Associated with Ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism causes misunderstandings that can be not only hurtful, but dangerous. It usually begins with premature and uninformed judgments about another person, or group. We tend to think of each other in social categories. This tendency can cause problems that all stereotyping is guilty of—branding people because of the color of their skin, their age, their gender, their religion, their ethnic background, as being "the same." Think of the social problems caused by stereotyping and ethnocentrism: poverty, lack of education, bullying in schools, or the wars between countries caused by such false assumptions about one another.

Even nationalism, which is often linked with the positive element of patriotism, can contain elements of ethnocentrism. Nazi Germany is a case in point. When we look at someone else's behavior using our own cultural biases, we are bound to offend, or to aggravate situations. How can these clashes be resolved peacefully? This is a question that twenty-first century diplomats and citizens of the world are asking all the time. As we become more and more of a global community, will familiarity breed contempt, or will we learn not only to understand, but also to accept one another as we are?

Intolerance of Others. When the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks occurred, ideas about tolerance as an American value seemed to vanish overnight. Since ethnocentrism involves not only intellect, but emotion, in a general way toward an "out group," studies conducted prior to and just after 9/11 measured the ethnocentrism of Americans. Even the President of the United States used ethnocentric terms such as "us" and "them," condoning the American predisposition to viewing an unknown group as inferior. It was not difficult for most Americans to support a so-called war on terror and researchers were able to determine that this support was based on ethnocentrism, that as indicators of ethnocentrism increased, so did the support for the war on terror.

Relationship of Ethnocentrism to Ethnicity & Racism. Ethnocentrism can lead to stereotyping and discrimination, attitudes and actions which can affect the life chances of a group of people based on ascribed characteristics such as race, ethnicity, religion, or sex.

Disparities in Educational Opportunities. After the enactment by the Bush administration of the No Child Left Behind Act, test-based measurement of academic achievement dominated public education. With this policy, the racial and ethnic "achievement gap" concerned policymakers who wanted to eliminate test disparities between Black and Hispanic students, on the one hand, and White and Asian American students on the other.

More than half a century after racially segregated schooling was pronounced unconstitutional by the Supreme Court's momentous Brown v. Board of Education (1954) decision, single-race public schools, and even virtually single-race school districts, continue to exist. Even in those schools and districts that are thoroughly integrated schools, many continue to be overwhelmingly White or communities of color. Those schools or districts with predominantly Black or Hispanic student populations tend to have higher levels of poverty, differing levels of cultural capital, and are the ones who tend to lose out when standardized measures of achievement are used. Race and education remain central issues for modern society. If education is the means by which a group's life chances improve or dwindle, the Supreme Court's ruling on desegregation of schools has done little to improve the odds of large segments of the population.

Mal-Distribution of Life Chances. Extreme ethnocentrism creates serious social problems (like racism, colonialism, and ethnic cleansing) and is generally condemned by the human population at large. Unfortunately, cases of extreme ethnocentrism continue to exist in the twenty-first century. Many Americans believe that racism is a thing of the past; however, a study of the city of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for example, showed a "striking mal-distribution of life chances" (Opoku-Dapaah, 2007, p. 3) between White and Black residents that instead of shrinking, is widening. At the time of the study, the city was managed by an all-White decision-making body, and only 12 percent of the Black community of Winston-Salem held a college degree. There was a high rate of unemployment among the Black residents, while over 50 percent held jobs in the lower-paying service sector. The ethnocentrism caused by negative perceptions about African Americans by White residents still contributes greatly to the city's segregation. Such discrepancies were brought significantly to the forefront of American society during the Black Lives Matter movement of the 2020s and the numerous instances of killings of Black citizens by police officers covered by the media during that time.

Viewpoints

Possible Solutions to Ethnocentrism. If the effects of ethnocentric thinking led to stereotyping and discrimination, the life chances of groups of people are affected. Since this is viewed as a negative result of ethnocentrism, scholars have begun working on theories which offer alternative views to ethnocentrism and its effects.

Cultural Relativism. The belief that cultures must be judged on their own terms rather than by the standards of another culture is known as cultural relativism. In other words, something that is important to one culture may not be important, or relevant, to another culture. If one culture cannot claim superiority, then there is no better or worse cultural practice. It is only relative to the culture in which it occurs. When cultural relativism is understood and taken into consideration, ethnocentrism cannot exist.

Some say that this cannot be done, that it is impossible to not be ethnocentric. But ethnocentrism can be controlled or kept in check through awareness of our language and of our actions. When anthropologists want to study another culture, they want to do so in an ethnographically sound way: without cultural bias. This is difficult to do, to engage in another culture, to explain that culture using its terms rather than our own. Indeed, the problems inherent in the science of sociology require us to explain society without bias, or at least by controlling the bias and keeping it to a minimum.

Building a Global Community. Can a global community exist without compromising the culture of one group, forcing it to submit to a dominant culture? If all the elements of community life are interdependent, then working toward multicultural human rights and social justice must be the center post of efforts to build a global community. In this type of atmosphere, there is no room for the tunnel vision known as ethnocentrism. Global leadership requires new approaches to participatory democracy, all of which relies on mutual respect and care for the entire global community.

Perhaps the list of suggestions created by Jordan Cooper (2005) in his blog called, "How to Build a Global Community," sums up the idea of escaping the restrictions of ethnocentrism. Among the list of suggested activities is to

• "Think of no one as 'them'"
• "Imagine other cultures through their poetry and novels"
• "Notice the workings of power and privilege in your culture"
• "Learn a second (or third) language"
• "Visit people, places and cultures—not tourist attractions"
• "Play games from other cultures"
• "Never believe you have a right to anyone else's resources"
• "Honor indigenous cultures"
• "Choose curiosity over certainty"
• "Assume that many others share your dreams."

Conclusion

Ethnocentrism can be viewed in a positive or a negative way. Most often, its negative aspects are noted and discussed. Ethnocentric attitudes and behavior can lead to misunderstandings and conflict on a personal or even a global level. Those who view ethnocentrism in a negative way seek to eradicate it from social relationships. One way to do so is to create a global community, not one that assimilates all cultures into one overriding super-culture, but one that acknowledges and celebrates the differences among cultures and other groups. Building a global community based on tolerance and acknowledgment of the relativism of culture takes time and effort. Yet, the rewards can include learning new ways of seeing and experiencing the world. The individual abilities of people can be developed rather than thwarted by the ethnocentrism that leads to prejudice and hostility among us. We can also know ourselves better by sharing our own ways with others with different life experiences. When we consciously leave ethnocentrism behind, we open up whole new areas of understanding, and we begin to see the tremendous possibilities that could be made available to all humans.

Terms & Concepts

Culture: A people’s way of life as defined by their values, beliefs, behavior, and material objects.

Cultural Relativism: The judging of another culture using one’s own as a base of comparison.

Cultural Universals: Common traits among cultures of the world.

Ethnocentrism: The practice of judging another culture by the standards of one's own culture.

Folkways: Norms for routine or casual interaction within a group.

Global Culture: Cultural practices found the world over.

Mores: Widely observed traditions that hold great moral significance.

Multiculturalism: Cultural diversity, celebrating ethnic variety, and teaching tolerance.

Nationalism: Devotion to the interests or culture of one's nation above others.

Norms: Societal regulations that shape the behaviors of its members.

Racism: The belief that one race is innately superior or inferior to another.

Tolerance: The ability to recognize and respect the beliefs or practices of others.

Values: Culturally defined standards that people use to decide what is desirable, good, and beautiful, and that serve as broad guidelines for social living.

Xenophobia: Fear or contempt of something foreign, especially of strangers or foreign peoples.

Bibliography

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Suggested Reading

Benson, P. (2014). Ethnocentrism and the English Dictionary. Routledge.

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McFarland, S., Webb, M., & Brown, D. (2012). All humanity is my ingroup: A measure and studies of identification with all humanity. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 103, 830–853.

Miner, H. (1956). Body ritual among the Nacirema. In Eve L. Howard, Classic readings in sociology, 2007. Thomson Wadsworth.

Smith, C. (2013). Adam Ferguson and ethnocentrism in the science of man. History of the Human Sciences, 26, 52–67. Retrieved December 3, 2014, from EBSCO Online Database SocINDEX with Full Text.