Spotlight on Students: Cultural Relativism & Ethnocentrism (Part 1)

The following is written by students, Charles Townsend and Rebecca Johanns.  This post highlights their work that they completed as part of their requirements in SA 202: Introduction to Anthropology.  Students were given the opportunity to explore a different culture through two lenses: cultural relativism and ethnocentrism, and through this exercise learn about themselves and the other culture. Several students were given the opportunity to have their exemplary work featured on the blog, and the students who provided permission have their work featured here.   Please show your appreciation for her work through the comments.

Turkish Coffee (Google Images)

By: Charles Townsend

 

All around the world exists “unique customs and beliefs shared by different groups of people leading to different ways of life,” according to the Oxford Dictionary (2019), and this is known as culture. Culture is often an important part of most individuals' lives as it can define one's interests, worldviews, and ideas. On occasion, these ideas will clash with one another leading to a confusing situation where two individuals may not understand each other's culture. This is expressed in the example of Bao, a Turkish international student, and Michael, an LU staff member. In this example both of them order coffee on a warm day in August, with Michael ordering a cold coffee and Bao ordering a hot coffee, which leads to confusion between both of them that ultimately boils down to differing cultural views. This scenario can be interpreted in several ways however, this paper will look to analyzing this situation from both an ethnocentric and culturally relativistic lens.

To begin, ethnocentrism is defined as “the assumption that one’s way of doing things is correct, while dismissing other people’ practices or views as wrong or ignorant” (Welsch, et al. 11). From the lens of ethnocentrism and looking back to the example of Bao and Michael, Michaels, response to Bao’s order of hot coffee would be seen from this perspective, due to statements like “How can you stand to drink a hot drink on today of all days?!” and “We do drink hot coffee but not on hot days. Why don’t you order an iced coffee?” From the lens of ethnocentrism, Michael is not only assuming his way of doing things is correct; but is also dismissing Bao’s desire for hot coffee under the assumption that he is doing something out of turn. As such, Michael and his actions towards Bao are proper examples of what an ethnocentric reaction to another culture would look like.

Cultural relativism is defined as “the moral and intellectual principle that one should withhold judgement about seemingly strange or exotic beliefs and practices.” (Welsch, et al. 12). Under the cultural relativism lens, it would seem that Bao is demonstrating this to a certain degree by withholding any judgement towards Michael after he orders iced coffee. Even after the Michael confronts Bao about his order of hot coffee, Bao takes the time to explain to Michael why he would order hot coffee on a hot day, telling him that it is a tradition in Turkey to drink hot drinks on a hot day due in part to Turkey’s climate and their perspective on sweating. In this regard, Bao is not making a judgement but is simply explaining his world view to help Michael understand him better.

This sort of situation is relatively minor but that would make sense considering how scenarios such as this can happen at any time there is a cultural clash. From the scenario, we see Michael being potentially insensitive to Bao’s culture by assuming his way is correct and followed by Bao who starts confused but then gradually explains to Michael his actions to further an understanding between each other. I feel that after their conversation the two characters would gain a far greater understanding of where both of them stand, granted that would also have me assume that I know how each character thinks which is something you can never assume. As a biracial man, I have grown up exposed to a multitude of cultures and as such, I interpreted this scenario as two human beings having a simple misunderstanding over a relatively minor issue. I suppose my perspective would more align with cultural relativism, and seeing as no outward harm was caused in this scenario and that hopefully a new perspective was gleaned by both characters in the process.

In the end, the scenario between the two characters of Michael and Bao serves merely as contextual examples of these two very specific terms but also serves to show how small, everyday transactions can be viewed with an anthropological lens. The major lessons would be that ethnocentrism is generally a negative thing due to its implications that only one culture has a correct way of doing something and that, in contrast, cultural relativism is generally positive.

That being said, understanding what ethnocentrism is and learning how to avoid doing it is very positive, especially when you can make up for it by actively practicing cultural relativism.

Regardless, being able to use these two concepts as tools to view the actions of ourselves and others can help bridge a better understanding between cultures and thus making the world a more understanding place.

Works Cited:

1.      Oxford Learner’s Dictionary: Culture. Oxford Learner’s Dictionary// https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/culture_1

2.      Welsch, Robert L. et al. Anthropology: Asking Questions about Human Origins, Diversity, and Culture. New York City, Oxford University Press, 2017.

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By: Rebecca Johanns

            Culture, as defined by Cambridge Dictionary, is “the way of life, especially the general customs and beliefs, of a particular group of people at a particular time.” Cultures are found all over the world and vastly range in age and way of living. Even within one region, cultures can vary greatly. In the situation provided, Michael was helping to show Bao the American culture. Bao drank a hot coffee on a hot day, which surprised Michael because that is not something a person from Michael’s American culture would do. Michael’s instant reaction was questioning Bao’s decision and insisting Bao drink iced coffee, which is what people typically drink in mid-Missouri on a hot day. Michael’s ethnocentric view created a misunderstanding of Bao and Turkey that could have been fixed had Michael asked Boa why he chose a hot coffee. This ethnocentric viewpoint generates many misunderstandings in today’s world with everyone including myself but can be easily or somewhat resolved by using a culturally relativistic viewpoint to at least understand the reasons behind other cultures’ ways of life and not to disregard their customs and beliefs.

            Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism are two ways to look at the differences between cultures. Ethnocentrism, as defined by LibreTexts, is “the tendency to look at the world primarily from the perspective of one’s own culture.” By looking at cultures with an ethnocentric viewpoint, a person does not allow them self to accept other cultures’ behaviors, beliefs, and customs but rather has the person judging the other’s livelihood based on the person’s own culture and way of living. Cultural relativity, however, is “the principle that an individual person’s beliefs and activities should be understood by others in terms of that individual’s own culture,” (“3.1E”). By this viewpoint, a person is willing to accept another’s way of living as it is without judging the individual based on the person’s own culture and way of life.

            In context of the conversation between Michael and Bao, Michael’s ethnocentric view prevented him from understanding that Bao was just doing what he was taught in his home country Turkey. Because the heat is dry in Turkey, the people do not sweat as easily and much as in Missouri. The climate in Missouri on a hot day is typically very humid, causing a person to sweat; therefore, Michael was accustomed to drinking cold drinks to cool down. Since Michael did not know about the climate of Turkey or the peoples’ habits, he automatically assumed that Bao was crazy and did not know what he was doing. Michael might also conclude that everyone from Turkey is crazy for drinking a hot beverage on a hot day. By keeping an ethnocentric view, Michael limited himself to understanding the actions of Bao and others while also pushing his own culture onto Bao without consciously realizing it.

            With a culturally relativistic view of the situation, however Michael questioned Bao’s actions because Michael does not understand how someone could drink a hot beverage on a hot day, but knowing that Bao comes from a different cultural background, Michael is understanding that Bao is not accustomed to the Missouri culture. Michael suggested the typical iced coffee instead to help show Bao how to keep himself cool in Missouri. Michael should have added an explanation for why hot beverages are not drank on hot days in Missouri to help prevent Bao from having a misunderstanding about the American culture and thinking that Americans do not drink hot coffee. Since it appears Michael did not have very much knowledge on Turkey, he should have also asked Bao why he drinks hot beverages on a hot day. This would help Michael understand Bao more and not assume he and the rest of Turkey are crazy.

            As someone who has seen different cultures first hand, I know the strange feeling when encountering a custom that is completely opposite or different than what I am used to. When I first read the situation, I was surprised by Bao wanting to drink a hot coffee on a hot day. I tried to imagine being in Missouri on a typical hot, humid day and having a hot coffee. For anyone who has ever lived or been in Missouri, they know this is not very enjoyable or refreshing. My ethnocentric view kept me from realizing that in some places around the world, even in dryer climates in America, drinking hot beverages on hot days is actually done and has a valid reason behind it. Once I reread the information about Turkey, however, I understood Bao’s decision and his misunderstanding of the Missouri climate. After I understood Bao more, my viewpoint became more culturally relativistic. I now realize Bao had a misunderstanding based on his culture’s customs and that he was not just ignorant.

            Ethnocentrism prevented Michael from realizing that Bao’s culture is accustomed to a different climate. This lack of knowledge from both parties created a misunderstanding of the two cultures. Knowing that Bao came from Turkey, which has a dry heat climate, Michael could explain to Bao that drinking a hot coffee will not help him to keep cool in Missouri because the climate is humid and that he needs to drink a cold coffee in order to stay cool. This knowledge about Turkey would also prevent Michael from making any false assumptions about Bao and the people of Turkey being crazy or ignorant. Seeing the different outcomes, it becomes clear that keeping a culturally relativistic viewpoint is important when dealing with other cultures in order to prevent any misunderstandings and not hurting one culture or person by pushing foreign ideas and customs onto the other.

Works Cited

“Culture.” Cambridge Dictionary. Cambridge University Press, 2019,

https://dictionary.cambridge.org. Website. Accessed 1 Sept. 2019.

“3.1E: Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism.” Social Science LibreTexts. MindTouch, 5 June

2019, https://socialsci.libretexts.org. Website. Accessed 1 Sept. 2019.