Ethnocentrism

Ethnocentrism is the belief in the superiority of one's own ethnic group. It is the feeling that one's group has a style of living and a set of values that are better than those of other ethnic groups. It is the tendency to [Page 359]judge the customs of other societies by the standards of one's own society. The word ethnocentrism is often used by those who study or discuss ethnicity, interethnic relations, and similar social issues. The definition of ethnocentrism captures part of the feelings associated with the word. It does not explain why people have these feelings. Many people may believe that they are not ethnocentric. They may feel that they are tolerant or accepting of other cultures. Actually, people are ethnocentric because we assume things about other people's cultures. Our assumptions are based on our beliefs and not on their beliefs and values. We observe other cultures through our values rather than through the beliefs and values of the other cultures. This is because we know our attitudes and beliefs, but we do not know what other cultures believe and value.

Since we are familiar with our culture, we make false assumptions about the attitudes and behaviors of those from a different culture. Because our assumptions come to us automatically and are based on our own system of beliefs, we do not realize that we are being ethnocentric. We only have our life experiences, our point of view, and our reality to use to view the world and other lifestyles.

In viewing themselves, many North Americans stress the importance of the individual, personal achievement, and independence. Many do not understand and cannot empathize with other points of view, other religions, placing the interest of the group before the individual, or reluctance to give up traditions. One of the responsibilities of schools is to provide instruction in worldviews, beliefs, values, and behavioral norms of the society to students. Schools tend to teach learners that their beliefs and values are right and worthy of respect. Since societies are ethnocentric, most people have received an ethnocentric education.

A regrettable consequence of ethnocentric education is that it prevents people from learning respect for and appreciation of other cultural patterns. Students do not have an opportunity to learn to be flexible in the use of many other ways of coping with a great variety of problems. If schools offered instruction in the analysis and comparison of other cultures, students would have opportunities to think in a broader perspective about the value of cultural differences. Teachers could provide learners with a wide range of cultural views and help students develop an understanding of and an appreciation for other cultures and the many different ways people deal with their needs and their problems. If students had an understanding of the beliefs and values of other cultures, they could then look at their own culture from new perspectives. Students could objectively view and evaluate their own beliefs and institutions from the vantage point of a different society from within that other culture.

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