Meaning & use
ethnocentrism
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Meanings
noununcountabledisapproving
The habit of judging other cultures by your own culture's customs and assuming yours is better.
Grammar: Uncountable and usually negative: ethnocentrism can limit understanding.
Patterns
- ethnocentrism in something
Ethnocentrism led the travelers to mock the local food.
Teachers try to reduce ethnocentrism by teaching about world cultures.
His ethnocentrism made it hard for him to accept different customs.
noununcountabletechnical
In social science, the concept that people tend to see their own group as the center of everything.
Grammar: Used in sociology and anthropology as a name for this bias.
Patterns
- the study of ethnocentrism
Sociologists study how ethnocentrism shapes group behavior.
The textbook defines ethnocentrism early in the chapter.
Anthropologists try to avoid ethnocentrism in fieldwork.
Common combinations
- cultural ethnocentrism
- Cultural ethnocentrism can cause misunderstandings.
- overcome ethnocentrism
- Travel helps people overcome ethnocentrism.
- avoid ethnocentrism
- Researchers must avoid ethnocentrism.
- ethnocentrism and prejudice
- Ethnocentrism and prejudice often go together.
- a form of ethnocentrism
- Assuming your food is the best is a form of ethnocentrism.
Synonyms and how they differ
- chauvinism
- Chauvinism means exaggerated loyalty to a group or country and is more political, while ethnocentrism concerns judging cultures.
- parochialism
- Parochialism describes a narrow outlook limited to a small area, and does not need to involve ranking cultures.
- prejudice
- Prejudice is a broader term for unfair opinions about any group.
- nationalism
- Nationalism is attachment to one's nation, while ethnocentrism concerns culture.
Opposites
Word family
- ethnocentric adjective
- judging other cultures by your own
- ethnocentrically adverb
- in an ethnocentric way
- ethnic adjective
- relating to a cultural or racial group
- ethnography noun
- the study of cultures through observation
- ethnicity noun
- membership of an ethnic group
Commonly confused: ethnocentrism or egocentrism? ethnocentrism or ethnicity?
ethnocentrism vs egocentrism
Egocentrism means seeing everything from your own personal view, while ethnocentrism concerns a whole culture or group.
ethnocentrism vs ethnicity
Ethnicity is a group identity, not a bias.
Practice
A visitor who assumes his own country's customs are the only correct ones is showing ___.
Choose one answer.
Ethnocentrism is judging other cultures by your own. Egocentrism is about self, ethnography is cultural study, and altruism is selfless concern.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “ethnocentrism”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.