Spotlight on Students: Cultural Relativism vs. Ethnocentrism

 

(Image courtesy of Society for Women Engineers)

 

This post highlights the work required of my SA 202: Introduction to Anthropology students.  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 in this and the following blog posts.   Please show your appreciation for their work through the comments.

 

By: AveriAunna Batts

Culture is like an invisible force that affects every person in the world. It is an impalpable force that influences everyday decisions such as the way a person dresses, the slang language the person speaks, and how individuals interact with one another. Individuals have two ways of approaching cultures that are different from their own. A person can have a cultural relativism approach which is understanding and accepting a different culture or an ethnocentric approach which is completely rejecting a culture. Cultural relativism and Ethnocentrism are vital features in culture and open doors to understanding many cultures such as their values, morals, and ethics. Without these two approaches, Anthropologists would not know as much about culture as they do today.

Cultural relativism is defined as “the moral and intellectual principle that one should withhold judgment about seemingly strange or exotic beliefs and practices” (Welsch, 2017: 12). It is the understanding and open-mindedness of another's culture or beliefs. Cultural relativism is not only beneficial to society but is also needed for every society. Cultural relativism boosts diversity within communities which allows for many enhancements in every field of study. Without cultural relativism, the United States would not be as powerful as it is today. Allowing society to have different approaches and views on life promotes creativity which is needed for improvement in every society. Cultural relativism is essentially the complete opposite of ethnocentrism; while cultural relativism is the acceptance of a culture, ethnocentrism is the complete disregard of a culture.

Ethnocentrism is defined as “the assumption that one’s way of doing things is correct while dismissing other people’s practices or views as wrong or ignorant” (Welsch, 2017: 12). Ethnocentrism is the belief that your culture and morals are above another while being judgmental and completely disregarding every other religion or beliefs people may have. While ethnocentrism can seem like a bad thing, it can benefit society as well. Ethnocentrism in a way enhances solidarity within a society. Solidarity is the agreement between citizens within a community; this can promote fellowship within a community and cause less conflict and violence within a society.

A person with a cultural relativist approach may view the required reading as completely wrong and may even want the employees from the HR Department fired. They may question how any international applicant can have a fair chance of acquiring a placement at the job if they are constantly being compared to one another. Culture relativists may believe the HR Department should not be bothered by the way internationalists fill out their job applications; they should just understand that trying to switch two different cultures can be challenging for a person and even more for a family. America is a competitive country when it comes to applying for jobs and international applicants may want to include more information to best be considered for the job.

A person with an ethnocentric approach to the required text would probably want to ban international applicants altogether. They would believe that if international applicants cannot understand the cultural practices of an American job application than they cannot effectively carry out job responsibilities. If they consistently carry out their values, they should stay in their own country where their values are accepted and expected. Ethnocentrists could also believe that America has already undergone too many terrorist attacks, and the company in the required reading does not need a potential threat on their hands. They could also believe in regards to the text that all jobs should consider any international applicant no matter their credentials; America is perfect by itself and the “others” are just trying to corrupt and ruin its country.

Today many people are inconsiderate and do not understand the challenges foreigners face by moving to the United States. The process can be exasperating, so mistakes are bound to happen like with any other person. My empathy and understanding of internationalists fueled my reaction to the text to be more culturally relativistic. The international applicants should be unjudged for consistently making an unexplained mistake. Instead, the HR employees should have observed the mistake, and a plan should have been set up once a pattern was established amongst international applicants' mistakes. The HR employees did this. They had a great idea to help the international applicants by developing separate sections on the company’s website on how to complete the application. While their frustration can be understood, their approach to the idea is what was wrong. Morgan could have just come up with an idea to include resume expectations on their website without the judgment toward all international applicants. Overall a cultural relativist approach is healthier than an ethnocentric one. It allows for non-bias creativity and can aid in making a society, group, or community more efficient.

 

Bibliography

Anthropology Asking Questions about Human Origins, Diversity, and Culture, by Robert Louis Welsch et al., Oxford University Press, 2017, pp. 3–29.

 

By: Brooke Baldwin

When thinking of other cultures' ways of life, it is hard to not compare it to one's own way of life. Society today tends to place judgement based on a first impression of anything outside of their specific culture and set of social norms. Confronting this topic from an anthropological point of view fosters and promotes a judgement free perspective. Diversity among cultures is to be expected, and no culture is superior to the other based on how they differ from one another. In this essay I will discuss two ways to view differences among cultures. I will not only define these two different viewpoints but use them to interpret a realistic example that may occur in the workplace.

Ethnocentrism is the “tendency to view one's own culture as best and to judge the behavior and beliefs of culturally different people by one's own standards” (Gezon & Kottak, 2012, as cited by Boston, 2013:1). This relates to both women present in the given story line. These women believe that oversharing on a resume is a safety risk for an applicant. Although it is a norm from where the applicant is from to provide personal information on a resume, these women are passing judgement that this is not the correct way to submit a resume based on their experience from their own culture. Besides the judgement, Morgan also expresses frustration towards correcting the differences in the resume. Her attitude perceives that she is correcting a mistake rather than fixing a difference between social norms. Kennedy also mentioned the international applicants should “get with the program” by not including the extra information. The frustrations these women are expressing already gives an assumption that the differences in culture norms could affect that applicant’s chance of being hired.  

Cultural relativism “means that they must take the position that the values and standards of cultures differ and deserve respect” (Gezon & Kottak, 2012, as cited by Boston 2013:1). My interpretation of cultural relativism represented in this example was the ending. Morgan explained that coming from somewhere else they are accustomed to different cultural standards and expectations.  It is a social norm for them to give this information, unlike here in the United States. Then suggesting to  include some information about resume expectations on the  website. This could assist everyone, not just international applicants.  I interpreted this as Morgan trying to place herself in that applicant's viewpoint to really understand why he presented himself this way. She wanted to be more proactive in the future to ensure applicants knew what was expected and maybe some things they did not need to include in their resume. This action benefits both sides of this scenario. Rather than continuing to complain about the inconvenience, this solution respects both cultures and the expectations the company requires from applicants. 

Both of these methods we are all guilty of. Many times I find myself placing judgement on something simply because it is out of my ordinary way of life. This bad habit does not always come from a malicious intent, but is still disrespectful and should not be encouraged. This example took place in the workplace and should not be accepted. Both women used ethnocentrism when passing judgement on the applicant simply because the person followed the social norms they are used to. Not much consideration was given to the fact that there was a cultural difference between her and that applicant. Every culture has unspoken social norms to fit their society and how they live life.  It is unfair to hold someone up to your social norms that has never really been introduced to that way of life before. Morgan used cultural relativism to respect the differences between the two cultures. She stated an understanding for the reasoning for the extra information in that applicant's resume. Rather than continuing to pass judgement, she offered a resolution to fix this problem for future applicants that could benefit both U.S citizens and international. Morgan was accepting of how that culture differed from her own. In this scenario I would like to think I would react in a helpful manner as Morgan did and accept the cultural differences we may have.

In conclusion, all cultures differ from each other. It is important to show respect in how you react to those differences. No one culture has the right way of life. As an anthropologist it is important you must use ethnocentrism in your work to remain biased and respectful to that culture. 

 

References

Boston, D. (2013, January 01). How to Think like an Anthropologist: The Pitfalls of Ethnocentrism and the Advantages of Cultural Relativism. Retrieved September 09, 2020, from https://humerusrevelations.blogspot.com/2013/05/how-to-think-like-anthropologist.html (Links to an external site.)

 

Gezon, L and C Kottak.  2012.  Culture.  McGraw-Hill.  

---