Marias mother kissed Caitlin on both cheeks when she greeted her. Sanai had been forced to flee war-torn Bosnia with her family when she was fifteen. During his time with the Inuit tribe, Barger learned to engage in cultural relativism. North Americans keep more distance and maintain a large personal space. Even something as simple as eating and drinking varies greatly from culture to culture. 3.1E: Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism - Social Sci LibreTexts (Credit: Arian Zwegers/flickr) Sagada, Echo Valley, hanging coffins. In the United States, for instance, it is often assumed that European products such as wine and cheese are superior to those produced locally. Do you feel that feelings of ethnocentricity or xenocentricity are more prevalent in U.S. culture? Why It Matters: Social Stratification and Inequality, 85. But as they experience unanticipated differences from their own culture, their excitement gives way to discomfort and doubts about how to behave appropriately in the new situation. During her summer vacation, Caitlin flew from Chicago to Madrid to visit Maria, the exchange student shed befriended the previous semester. While extreme ethnocentrism may take the same offensive form and may have the same dire consequences as extreme racism, there are significant differences between the two concepts. But bit by bit, they became stressed by interacting with people from a different culture who spoke another language and used different regional expressions. They help people know when to shake hands, where to sit, how to converse, and even when to laugh. Reading: Ethnocentrism and Xenocentricism - Introductory Sociology Over the course of his stay, Barger participated in caribou hunts, learned how to take shelter in winter storms, and sometimes went days with little or no food to share among tribal members. Why do you believe this? Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism | Introduction to Sociology However, indiscriminately embracing everything about a new culture is not always possible. European colonizers often viewed the people in the lands they colonized as uncultured savages who were in need of European governance, dress, religion, and other cultural practices. Ethnocentrism is the tendency to look at the world primarily from the perspective of one's own culture. Want to create or adapt books like this? For this reason, culture shock is often associated with traveling abroad, although it can happen in ones own country, state, or even hometown. When Rodneys host brother introduces himself and kisses Rodney on both cheeks, Rodney pulls back in surprise. Sociologists attempting to engage in cultural relativism, then, may struggle to reconcile aspects of their own culture with aspects of a culture that they are studying. Practicing cultural relativism requires an open mind and a willingness to consider, and even adapt to, new values and norms. Ethnocentrism can be so strong that when confronted with all of the differences of a new culture, one may experience disorientation and frustration.
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