Our society consists of consumers that buy into stereotypes and the propaganda that is being fed by the government and the media. Ethnocentrism is an "exaggerated tendency to think the characteristics of one's own group or race is superior to those of other groups or races" (PSU 2017, Drever, 1952, p. 86). Ethnocentric views suggest that one culture is superior to all others. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. Some could argue that it is ethnocentric because it reveals a preference for your culture to remain the dominant norm and remain the standard within your country. Adolf Hitler decided he hated Jewish people, as well as other groups of people, and had many innocent people slaughtered in concentration camps. About The Helpful Professor copyright 2003-2023 Study.com. For example, you might meet an American who insists French culture is better than the American way of living. Here, they cross over from being proud of their heritage to being biased and condescending of other peoples heritage. In some cases it might be more overt than others i.e. We grew up with culture customs,. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9221.2012.00907.x, https://doi.org/10.23917/humaniora.v20i2.7401. Copyright 2023 Helpful Professor. Some cultures and even some families are strict about practicing endogamy, while others are not. Perhaps the greatest example of ethnocentrism is the case of explorers going to new found lands. Ethnocentrism, as an anthropological and social science concept, refers to the use of one's ethnicity or culture as a basis for judging other cultures, beliefs, peoples, behaviors, practices, and societies, rather than applying the standards of the specific demographic involved. 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The range of media products and behaviors, we have discussed in this paper earlier is very large and the difficulty of their analysis and assessment tremendous. . needed to be controlled by them owing to their supposed underdeveloped natures. For someone to extrapolate their own culture onto someone else, there must be a love for that culture in the first place. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. One of the most well-known and horrific examples of ethnocentrism pertains to Nazi Germany. Coined by William Graham Sumner in the early twentieth century, the term owes what conceptual life it has to the likes of anthropology and intercultural communication. For example, some people who move to the United States might have dreamed of fleeing their homeland to the USA since childhood because theyve loved the concept of freedom, small government, and capitalism. We see ethnocentrism all over the media, though we may not often realise it. Ethnocentrism is believed to be. These people may find it unnecessary to find that people in other societies, such as the American society, eat using forks, spoons, knives, etc. Even the colonies in the United States were once controlled by the British. For example, look at some mass media representing indigenous Filipinos. That and the idea of ethnocentrism creates a skewed idea of Asian culture. For, instance one of the unique Philippine cuture was using "po" and "opo" on showing respect for elders. Asian Americans have been part of America for almost as long as its existence. Here, you can see that America sees themselves as the idealized norm against which other nations should be judged (and always found wanting!). But some of us do, showing how we think our way of doing things is the right and natural approach, and other peoples approaches are naturally inferior. Researchers have repeatedly found that ethnocentric beliefs are common: most people will tend to consider their own culture to be either the best or the natural default from which all other cultures are essentially deviations. When people view other cultures through a relativistic lens, they can learn about and evaluate a culture more fully by examining that culture's beliefs and practices with an open mind. Hitler believed that Jews, as well as people belonging to some other communities were all inferior to his ethnicity, and did not deserve to live. Another business owner based in a developed country may refuse to merge with a company that is originally based in a developing country because he believes that the developing country is very inferior to his own. We all do it, some time or the other, mostly not even realizing that were being ethnocentric at that moment. Look how dirty this country is! Ethnocentrism played a large role in the systematic oppression of Nati Ethnocentrism is one of the most prominent themes in The Truth About Stories and in a great deal of our world history. Studies of individuals point to unconscious processes in the brain that reflect a suspicion of people unlike ourselves, leading some researchers to conclude that ethnocentrism is part of human nature. So is the view that some cultures are inherently more violent, more criminal, less intelligent, or less complex than others. However, ethnocentrism can make individuals feel as if the other community is bad, or wrong, and can make them take action in the form of terrorist attacks or hate crimes. Another example of ethnocentrism in movies is the legendary movie, The Godfather. Psychology tells us about the concept of in-groups and out-groups, where one tends to agree with the beliefs and actions of ones in-group (such as race, religion, or ethnicity, for example) and judge or have biased opinions about the out-groups (such as other religions or ethnicities). The show is purely a comedy, but theres no doubt this Jewish family thinks their culture is far superior to any Gentiles way of living. MEDIA AND ETHNOCENTRISM. An example of ethnocentrism is when you judge other countries for the way they eat, but don't have a moral reason for this. There are many ways that ethnocentric beliefs can manifest. Viewing the world through this lens calls systems of ethnocentric though into question. Yes! This attitude could lead an individual to believe that their own culture or way of life is the correct way of living . . This novel indicates that ethnocentrism is an extremely broad topic because even within one's own ethnicity, divisions will be found. In case you're wondering what the concept of ethnocentrism exactly is, this OpinionFront article gives you an explanation as well as some examples to help you understand it better. People learn to view their own culture as the default and other cultures as different both through overt teaching of ethnocentric beliefs and (much more commonly) through implicit exposure to one's own norms more frequently than others. The following ethnocentrism examples vary from simple misunderstandings, to systemic disenfranchisement of minority groups, to outright violence and even genocide. Assimilation policies state that immigrants to a country should leave their old culture behind and embrace their host countrys culture. European countries establishing their colonies in other parts of the world is an example of ethnocentrism: they believed that they were superior, civilized, and developed than other countries, which is why they needed to establish control in order to help these countries come up to their standards, too. What is ethnocentrism and examples? We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Ethnocentric individuals believe theyre better than other individuals for reasons based solely on their heritage. This process is most helpfully framed through the lens of cultural relativism, a philosophical belief system that has become more popular over the course of the last century. It may lead us to be reluctant to collaborate with or care for other nations cultures and lead migrants to feel like they should assimilate. Third-Party Payers in Healthcare | Overview, Fees & Examples. 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