Ethnocentrism Case

Introduction: Ethnocentrism

Ethnocentrism is the view that one's own culture is superior to other cultures (Samovar et al., 2010; Wrench et al., 2008). It was originated from two Greek words: "ethnos" and "kentron", which means "nations" and "centre" respectively, implying that one considers his own nation as the centre of the universe (Wrench et al., 2008). Ethnocentrism occurs when we use our own culture as a standard to evaluate other cultures (Hofstede et al., 2010; Samovar et al., 2010; Wrench et al., 2008). Any deviation from this standard would be seen as 'wrong' or 'incorrect', and that particular culture and its people would be considered as inferior (Wrench et al., 2008). When using this narrow lens of our own culture to view other cultures, ethnocentrism is created (Samovar et al., 2010).

Reason for ethnocentrism: Cultural shock

When one is new to a culture, he would look for things that he is used to. He may be sensitive to things that look strange and try to avoid contacting and understanding. As a result, when communicating with people from other cultures, he may insist on his own cultural practice and view friendly suggestions as criticisms and act very negatively (Wrench et al., 2008). He may also try to alienate or estrange those around him in the new culture (Wrench et al., 2008).

Reason for ethnocentrism: Stereotype

Members of an out-group are evaluated as the same, yet, the evaluation is often negative. When communicating with a member of an out-group, one may overestimate the differences as he overlooks or neglects the similarities and stereotypes the person as harmful or weird (Wrench et al., 2008). This would discourage communication between people of different cultures. Moreover, one may also underestimate the differences as he cannot distinguish the variability within people from other cultures (Wrench et al., 2008).

In the following, two examples of intercultural problems related to ethnocentrism would be discussed.

Example 1

This year, I spent my summer in Beijing doing voluntary teaching and I have had very hard times on public transports. Every morning when I was queuing to get on the bus, everything seemed normal and pleasant, once the bus came, everyone would abandon the original queue, squeeze into the bus and use bags and newspaper to reserve seats for their friends or colleagues. As Hongkongers, we often think that they are uncivilized and do not follow rules as this is unfair to people who are queuing up. The reason behind this phenomenon is the emphasis on "guanxi"-- special kind of interpersonal relationships in China.

Referring to the Hofstede's model, Mainland Chinese are of high collectivism. They concern about their interpersonal relations, and aim to establish meaningful social relationships in which