Ethnocentrism is the tendency to look at the world primarily from the perspective
of one's own culture. Ethnocentrism often entails the belief that one's own
race or ethnic group is the most important and/or that some or all aspects of
its culture are superior to those of other groups. Within this ideology,
individuals will judge other groups in relation to their own particular ethnic
group or culture, especially with concern to language, behaviour, customs, and
religion. These ethnic distinctions and sub-divisions serve to define each
ethnicity's unique cultural identity.
Ethnocentrism leads us to make false assumptions about cultural differences. We are ethnocentric when we use our cultural norms to make generalizations about other peoples' cultures and customs. Such generalizations -- often made without a conscious awareness that we've used our culture as a universal yardstick -- can be way off base and cause us to misjudge other peoples. Ethnocentrism also distorts communication between human beings.
Ethnocentric thinking causes us to make wrong assumptions about other people because . . .
Ethnocentrism leads us to make premature judgments.
"They" may not be very good at what we are best at.
By evaluating "them" by what we are best at, we miss the many other aspects of life that they often handle more competently than we do.
Some very simple examples of ethnocentric thinking. . .
We often talk about British drivers driving "on the wrong side" of the road. Why not just say "opposite side" or even "left hand side"?
We talk about written Hebrew as reading "backward." Why not just say "from right to left" or "in the opposite direction from English."
We encourage SNU students going on short-term missions to use the phrase "Oh, that's different" rather than more pejorative terms when encountering strange customs or foods
Ethnocentrism leads us to make false assumptions about cultural differences. We are ethnocentric when we use our cultural norms to make generalizations about other peoples' cultures and customs. Such generalizations -- often made without a conscious awareness that we've used our culture as a universal yardstick -- can be way off base and cause us to misjudge other peoples. Ethnocentrism also distorts communication between human beings.
Ethnocentric thinking causes us to make wrong assumptions about other people because . . .
Ethnocentrism leads us to make premature judgments.
"They" may not be very good at what we are best at.
By evaluating "them" by what we are best at, we miss the many other aspects of life that they often handle more competently than we do.
Some very simple examples of ethnocentric thinking. . .
We often talk about British drivers driving "on the wrong side" of the road. Why not just say "opposite side" or even "left hand side"?
We talk about written Hebrew as reading "backward." Why not just say "from right to left" or "in the opposite direction from English."
We encourage SNU students going on short-term missions to use the phrase "Oh, that's different" rather than more pejorative terms when encountering strange customs or foods
Ethnocentrism is judging another culture solely by the values
and standards of one's own culture. The
ethnocentric individual will judge other groups relative to his or her own
particular ethnic group or culture, especially with concern to language behavior, customs, and religion these ethnic distinctions and
subdivisions serve to define each ethnicity’s
unique cultural identity
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