Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism PART 1

Aspects of Culture

• With the complexities of culture, these are some important aspects of culture
that enhance the progress of human interaction and socialization.

Dynamic, Flexible, Adaptive

• Culture changes constantly throughout the time. It varies
on the societal structure and the capacities of its
members to respond.

Shared & Contested

• Culture through its elements is enjoyed by group of people
who lived together. It also allows its members to predict
the behavior of other members but it is no assurance that
they will think and act similarly.

Learned through socialization or enculturation

• Culture is learned with practice through continued
process. It is a lifelong process in which social interaction
plays a vital role.

Patterned social interactions

• Culture creates patterned behavior and social interactions
that can be transmitted through socialization and
enculturation.

Integrated and at times unstable

• Culture to be always functioning must maintain its
components integrated. Language must have all its idea
and ideals intact for the successful transmission from one
person to another.

Transmitted through socialization/enculturation

• Socialization is a process of learning and internalizing rules
and patterns of society (Sociological Perspective) while
enculturation is a process of learning and adopting ways
and manners of culture. (Anthropological Perspective)

Socialization

• is a process of learning and internalizing rules
and patterns of society (Sociological Perspective)

Enculturation

• is a process of learning and adopting ways
and manners of culture. (Anthropological Perspective)

Requires language and other forms of communication

• Culture will be successfully transmitted if it uses language
and other forms of communication within their context.

Types of Culture

• Culture is primarily composed of material and non-material elements.
Material culture includes all visible parts and tangible objects while non-material
culture has intangible objects or the invisible parts. These manifestations are always
present in any given society.

Material Culture

•Food
•Clothing and Fashion
•Buildings and Properties
•Arts and Technology

Non-Material Culture

•Ideas and Knowledge
•Beliefs and Traditions
•Symbols and Language
•Behavior
•Religion

Elements of Culture

Elements of Culture

Norms

These are the standard an expected behavior within a society. It is divided into two:

formal norms and informal norms
Formal Norms

Mores – they are norms that has a
firm control to moral and ethical
behavior.

Pre-marital sex,
Homosexual relationships

Laws – they are ordinance of reason
enacted to protect the people from
the bad effects of outdated mores

Informal Mores
Folkways or Customs – they are
behaviors of less importance yet still
influence our behavior.

Laws

they are ordinance of reason
enacted to protect the people from
the bad effects of outdated mores

Mores

they are norms that has a
firm control to moral and ethical
behavior.

Folkways or Customs

they are behaviors of less importance yet still influence our behavior.

Symbols

These are anything that carry a meaning
recognized by people who share a culture.

Values

These are culturally defined standards by
which people assess desirability, goodness,
and beauty and that serve as broad
guidelines for social living.

Beliefs

These are specific statements that people hold to be true.

Language

It refers to a form of communication using
words either spoken or gestured with the
hands and structured with grammar, often
with a writing system.

Taboos

These are norms that are crucial to a
society’s moral center, involving behaviors
that are always negatively sanctioned

Ethnocentrism

According to Brown (2007), Ethnocentrism is the view of an individual that his/her cultural elements such as norms, values, ideology, customs, and traditions are dominant and superior to others.

William Sumner mentioned some characteristics of an individual with an ethnocentric view. Ethnocentric persons

- have a dominant cultural element which they see as superior to other cultures;
- view rigidly their own socio-economic, political, and cultural elements;
- see their cultural elements as normal and acceptable to all;
- consider in-group norms can be universalized;
- discard out-group ethnicities and cultures;
- believe that other cultures are inferior; and
- look at other culture’s elements as inferior and unacceptable

Cultural Relativism

Cultural relativism refers to an objective analysis of one’s own culture – seeing and understanding of one’s beliefs and traditions from his/her own point of view. It also entails not to judge the practices of others based on your own culture; hence, respecting it in their own cultural context.

According to James Rachels (2003), the following claims have all been made by cultural relativists:

1. Each society has a diverse set of moral conducts.
2. The rightfulness of an action within a society is primarily determined by the moral standards of that society.
3. There is no objective standard that can be used as a basis of comparison among societies.
4. The moral code of our own society is just part of a larger body of morality and ethical standards.
5. High tolerance among all culture must be exercised always.