A practicing sociologist has the gift of being able to recognize things that many people spend their entire life in ignorance of. These “things” are what construct an individual person’s sense of reality are ideas that very often differ culture to culture. To further explain this meaning, a person can consider the idea of thunder. In a Westernized culture, many people will hear the loud noise and automatically associate it with a storm. However, in other cultures some people may immediately think that their gods are angry with them and thus cause the sounds in a fit of rage. The interesting thing about this is that both ideas are a direct result of the culture and language in which the individual was raised or adapted into. Their individual …show more content…
Each culture has a certain level of ethnocentrism which can have positive and negative consequences. Ethnocentrism provides a feeling of unwillingness to change one’s culture or specific institution by placing them in a box. They can only see things through their specific lens and when something differs from what they know, they believe that it is a violation of the ways things should be. They become ignorant of the cultures that they may be right in the middle of by comparing them to the culture that they are familiar with and grading it on a scale. This causes a level of unwillingness to change institutions within a society because they are the standard. This makes it exceedingly difficult to relate to other people and the world as a whole because when someone is always trying to look at something while envisioning it as something else; they will never fully see the beauty of what they are observing. They limit their own experience for the sake of comfort and security, for the safety found within the familiar. Ethnocentrism is the safety blanket for many people yet the enervation that prevents them from fully experiencing the world and all of its different
(1) Ethnocentrism is looking at one’s own culture and placing it above other cultures, constantly comparing it to the other cultures “below”. In America today, many people look at conflicted areas in the globe such as the Middle East and wonder why their system cannot keep a stable democracy. This idea of constantly comparing other cultures to one’s own and expecting them to be alike or follow the example is a problem in reading historical documents and understanding history as a whole. Nomadic invaders such as the Mongols were described as horrible savage people in the written accounts of the sedentary peoples. This must not be taken quite as literally because accounts tend to be biased more often than not. In examining ethnocentrism, one must always remember that few, if not none, cultures behave extremely irrationally as they may seem. For example, referring back to the views of Middle East today, one must remember that the system of Islamic law and customs has held for centuries, and would not have survived that long if they truly are as irrational as they might seem. Referring back to the example of the Mongols, the attacked people were obviously biased and the Mongols would not have had ruled for so long if they were cruel, savage, irrational monsters. Ethnocentrism is extremely difficult to avoid and is apparent in many documents, such as Columbus’s description of the American Natives (in comparison to the “civilized” Europeans), and should be dealt with carefully. In order to understand all sides of an account, one must look at what is written with deference and understanding.
The problems of ethnocentrism tend to manifest themselves in the philosophy of history, when philosophers attempt to interpret empirical history in teleological terms. Ethnocentrism arises whenever the researcher attempts to universalize the Western subject-position. In sociological terms that have been widely popularized since Sumner, ethnocentrism involves one first identifying with an in-group, with whom one shares certain observable characteristics (culture, language, physical features, or customs, for example).[1] The belief in shared characteristics leads to an assertion of identity, and this belief in turn influences attitudes. Our attitude toward the in-group is one of favouritism, whereas our attitude toward the out-group is one of
Growing up in an American society, we are surrounded by certain customs and mannerisms. We pay little attention to them, as they have been ingrained into our society and is apart of our everyday lives. It is when a new culture or society gets thrown into the mix that we notice the different customs. Our first reaction is to think their way is wrong or weird, but when you take a step back you realize that it’s not weird at all, in fact it is as natural as breathing. They are from a different country, therefore they have different customs and way of living. To them, our ways are just as strange.
The term “ethnocentrism,” meaning the sense of taken-for-granted superiority in the context of cultural practices and attitudes, described the way Europeans looked at their “culture” as though they were superior to all others. Westerns even stated that non-Westerns had no culture and that they were inferior to the culture that was building in Europe.
In what ways does a degree of ethnocentrism contribute to the positive functioning of American culture? How much is too much? What problems can result from excessive ethnocentrism?
Ethnocentrism can be defined as an individual’s belief that the ethnic group or cultural they identify with is superior to all others. “The ethnocentric person judges other groups and other cultures by the standards of his or her own group” (Schaefer 34).
Webster’s dictionary defines ethnocentrism as “The tendency to evaluate other groups according to the values and standards of one's own ethnic group, especially with the conviction that one's own ethnic group is superior to the other groups.” When first reading this definition, one would naturally agree that ethnocentrism does exist in our world and society, often confusing it with patriotism. However, many do not realize that ethnocentrism is, has been, and continues to be a leading cause for violence in America. Different ethnic groups such as African Americans and Native Americans have suffered through years of violent crimes against them because of the white man’s ethnocentric views of themselves when compared with other races and cultures.
Ethnocentrism #1a.> The difference between the way that the Thais deal with traffic accidents is very different from our own in the manner that when an accident occurs they compare the damage done to each vehicle and then the damage done to each person. To call the police is a big waste of time because many other riders do not have a license. After the problem had been taken care of you are not supposed to make any other contact with the other party. It almost seems like the debate between the groups that gathered was the way that the people could get rid of boredom. #1b.> Not going to jail and the passing of the day is the need that the Thais obtained. #2.> Three examples of Ethnocentrism: a) When the people from the street approached the injured men, the people seemed just as interested in the damage to the motorcycles as they were to the injuries to the persons riding the bikes. b) There was no direct contact between the parties that were in the accident, the people standing around each of the men did the running between the men. The police were not called and there was no lawsuit or fight between the motorists. c) There is just as many people without licenses as there are people with licenses. #3.> Sometimes when we avoid ethnocentric behavior, and respect the other cultures, we lose a portion of our own culture. Our culture is supposed to be based on peace but, for example, with the rise of violence in schools it is necessary to keep all knives out of the classroom. The government let “ceremonial knives” enter the school. What really is the difference between a “ceremonial” and regular knives? They both cause bleeding when used and they both kill, isn’t this what we’re trying to stop? We are going to lose our culture in order to keep religion alive.
I was hired last August at my current employers. Coming from the automotive corporate world, this transition was a culture shock. I was used to professional encounters and correspondence. I felt like I had step foot into the men’s locker room of constant swearing, gossiping and joking. The women were the worst, I felt like they used the “F” word as a comma in each verbal sentence. It was very unsettling at first; I was worried I had made a very big mistake making this career change. This workplace culture relates to ethnocentrism. Their behavior was the norm for the work environment. I finally had enough of people speaking disrespectfully I snapped back explaining, I would not tolerate being spoke to that way. Looking back it did resolve the problem; however in this circumstance I should have kept my cool and went to management. Swearing is still the norm in the environment, however swearing towards people has been diminished. The relax environment has benefits, the owners of the company are amazingly approachable and jokesters themselves
Ethnocentrism is having or based on the idea that your own group or culture is better or more important than others (www.merriam-webster.com). According to Thomas Forr’s article, “Ethnocentrism can lead to excessive nationalism. This nationalism can be used to justify persecution of minorities, prejudice and racism. In Nazi Germany for instance, Adolf Hitler, sought to create a master race, which would be far superior to all other races. This belief of superiority of “Aryans” help justify the repression and murder of millions of people. As you can understand ethnocentrism is not just good, but bad too, you can use the Ying and Yang symbol for Buddhism to explain it; it has good in the bad and some bad in the good. You have to remember that if we did not have any ethnocentrism we would not look at other cultures as interesting” (Ethnocentrism and values). I agree and disagree with this statement. I agree that ethnocentrism is needed, but killing other races for one race to seek superior status can never be the right way to express it. I disagree with this statement due to Hitler’s horrendous need to kill all Jews to gain attention towards his single race. For example, Anne’s family, and all others risked their lives every day in the annex because they were Jews. Was this right? No. But according to
The problems of ethnocentrism tend to manifest themselves in the philosophy of history, when philosophers attempt to interpret empirical history in teleological terms. Ethnocentrism arises whenever the researcher attempts to universalize the Western subject-position. In sociological terms that have been widely popularized since Sumner, ethnocentrism involves one first identifying with an in-group, with whom one shares certain observable characteristics (culture, language, physical features, or customs, for example).[1] The belief in shared characteristics leads to an assertion of identity, and this belief in turn influences attitudes. Our attitude toward the in-group is one of favouritism, whereas our attitude toward the out-group is one of
Ethnocentrism is when someone judges other peoples cultures, values, or ideas for their own culture. Ethnocentrism is found everywhere, all around us. We are surrounded by people who judge others by their race, religion, and culture which leads to hatred. A negative effect of ethnocentrism is when someone just wants to keep judging others for their beliefs or religion not caring how others might feel about his judging, they are egocentric.
For the sociologist , however, what is real , taken for granted in a given society may not be so in another.
... its proper expressions, structure and grammar. Moreover, each language is linked to a specific dialect which is associated with educational, economic, social and historical conditions. Moreover, cultural variations also exist in the rules for general discourse in oral communication. Similar to verbal communication, there are also variations in non-verbal communication between cultures. Gestures, facial expressions, sense of time and personal distance take different forms in different cultures. Furthermore, there is an infinite number of cultural diversities which are at the root of intercultural miscommunication. Variations in values , social relationships, religion, economy and politics consist of only a few of these diversities. These differences can be the source of ethnocentrism, if one becomes over patriotic in regards to one’s own culture. Ethnocentrism, is the concept which states that we tend to judge other cultures through our own. Ethnocentric behavior, can cause racism and chauvinism, as in the case of the Second World War. However, intercultural problems can be avoided if we all develop mindfulness, a sense of flexibility and seek information about the other culture.
Norms are by definition general society guidelines and expectations of appropriate behavioral conduct in a particular environment or society. These guidelines could be formal and written such as laws that prohibit stealing or they could be implicit such as behavioral conduct or dress code. Every society has its own way of endorsing and enforcing certain norms and standards of proper behavior while renouncing and sanctioning improper behavior. In general, norms are of a significant importance because they guide our behavior and maintain order in society by providing conformity. Furthermore, norms render behavior predictable rather than random, thus allowing us to predict and understand other people’s actions and behaviors in different situations. On the other hand, divergence from norms is termed “deviance” and can lead to chaos and instability. It is noteworthy to mention, that the culture background and context play an important role as each culture processes its own norms, values, standards and expectations. For instance, in certain cultures shaking hands between opposite sexes is inappropriate, and this is the case in Yemen. Thus our perception of norms in different culture is critical: either we choose to understand an individual’s behavior according to his own culture context and set of norms (cultural relativity) or we choose to understand an individual’s behavior according to our own culture which we believe to be more superior (ethnocentrism). An example of ethnocentrism where norms and values of a certain culture have been imposed on another is the banning of the veil worn by muslim women in France. In contrast, cultural relativism appears in Lebanon where muslim women are perceived in terms of their own culture and are a...