Culture Clash
Culture Clash
Understanding other
cultures means moving
beyond ethnocentrism
and prejudice'You've used the words 'ethnocentrism' and 'prejudice' in your columns," a reader recently wrote. "But I don't quite understand the distinction. Do these terms refer to the same feelings about other cultural groups? I have seen some writers use the two terms in the same paragraph."
There are distinctions between the terms, but my correspondent is correct in implying that the concepts are often used interchangeably. Ethnocentrism refers to the belief that one's own cultural group has found correct ways of living and that all other groups should be judged by these standards. The term can be broken down into its components. "Ethno" refers to one's own ethnic or cultural group. "Centrism" means that one's own group should be looked upon as the center of the world. Further, other groups are at a disadvantage because its members do not behave according to proper and reasonable standards.
Examples of standards include beliefs that one's own group practices the correct religion, eats the right foods according to good manners, knows how to treat people well, has discovered the best ways of educating their children, and votes for the most qualified and caring political candidates. When viewing the behavior of individuals from other groups, differences lead to judgments of "incorrect, quaint or ill-mannered." Ethnocentric people have a solution: members of other groups should adopt the proper standards of behavior long practiced in their more enlightened culture.
When people act in a prejudiced manner, they move beyond judgements of incorrectness and quaintness. They add a strong emotional component so that judgements of other people's behavior become much more negative and much more intense. Judgments of incorrectness become stupidity. Bemused reactions that other people's behaviors are quaint are intensified into conclusions about hopeless backwardness. In its most intense forms, prejudice leads to the decision that the others are so unfortunate that they cannot be helped. If this is their conclusion, then prejudiced people don't interact with members of other groups since they believe it is a waste of their time.
Everyone behaves according to ethnocentric standards of behavior. American business students spend years in college learning about management, marketing, finance, accounting and computer technology. They have to believe that these are years well spent. Business executives spend years learning about how best to treat employees, and some of their judgments will reflect cultural standards that they learned during their socialization. Ethnocentrism, however, does not inevitably lead to prejudice. People can use one of their greatest gifts: their ability to think carefully about themselves and others. They can learn to observe behavior in other cultures and conclude, "I don't behave that way. But I should not make judgments until I understand how this unfamiliar behavior assists people meet the expectations of their culture."
The purpose of this column is to increase understanding of human behavior as it has an impact on the workplace. Special attention will be given to miscommunications caused by cultural differences. Each column will start with a short example of such confusion. Possible explanations will be offered to encourage thought about these issues.
Richard Brislin is a professor in the College of Business Administration,
University of Hawaii. He can be reached through the
College Relations Office: cro@cba.hawaii.edu