Home > E Words > ethnocentrism

ethnocentrism

Definition of Ethnocentrism

(noun) The tendency to view your own society or culture as superior and the standard by which other societies and cultures are judged.

Examples of Ethnocentrism

  • Someone from the United States thinking that all people around the work practice Thanksgiving.
  • The idea that democracy is the best political system.

Ethnocentrism Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: eth·no·cen·trism

Audio Pronunciation

– American English
– British English

Phonetic Spelling

  • American English – /eth-noh-sEn-triz-uhm/
  • British English – /eth-noh-sEn-tri-zuhm/

International Phonetic Alphabet

  • American English – /ˌɛθnoʊˈsɛnˌtrɪz(ə)m/
  • British English – /ˌɛθnə(ʊ)ˈsɛntrɪz(ə)m/

Usage Notes

Related Video

Related Quotations

  • Cultures do not generally remain static. There are many forces working toward change and diversity. Some societies and individuals adapt to this change whereas others suffer culture shock and succumb to ethnocentrism” (Kendall 2006:57).
  • Empirical evidence suggests that a predisposition to favor in-groups can be easily triggered by even arbitrary group distinctions and that preferential cooperation within groups occurs even when it is individually costly” (Hammond and Axelrod 2006:926).
  • “Ethnocentrism is a nearly universal syndrome of attitudes and behaviors, typically including in-group favoritism” (Hammond and Axelrod 2006:926).
  • “Ethnocentrism is one of sociology’s distinctive concepts. Comprehension of this concept is a major step in the acquisition of a sociological outlook. Students of introductory sociology are often left, at the end of the course, with a feeling that the term “ethnocentrism” denotes a flaw in human nature. Some of them may also be persuaded that their exposure to academic sociology has helped to immunize them against this natural but supposedly lamentable tendency to react ethnocentrically to people in other societies” (Catton 1960:201).
  • “[Ethnocentrism] reflects our tendency to judge other people’s beliefs and behavior using values of our own native culture” (Spradley and McCurdy 2008:5).

Additional Information

Related Terms


References

Catton, William R. 1960. “The Functions and Dysfunctions of Ethnocentrism: A Theory.” Social Problems 8(3):201–11. doi:10.2307/798910.

Hammond, Ross A., and Robert Axelrod. 2006. “The Evolution of Ethnocentrism.” The Journal of Conflict Resolution: a Quarterly for Research Related to War and Peace 50(6):926–36. doi:10.1177/0022002706293470.

Kendall, Diana. 2006. Sociology in Our Times: The Essentials. 5th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Spradley, James P., and David W. McCurdy, eds. 2008. Conformity and Conflict: Readings in Cultural Anthropology. 13th ed. Boston: Pearson Education.

Works Consulted

Abercrombie, Nicholas, Stephen Hill, and Bryan Turner. 2006. The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology. 5th ed. London: Penguin.

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. 5th ed. 2011. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Andersen, Margaret L., and Howard Francis Taylor. 2011. Sociology: The Essentials. 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Brinkerhoff, David, Lynn White, Suzanne Ortega, and Rose Weitz. 2011. Essentials of Sociology. 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Bruce, Steve, and Steven Yearley. 2006. The SAGE Dictionary of Sociology. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Brym, Robert J., and John Lie. 2007. Sociology: Your Compass for a New World. 3rd ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Delaney, Tim, and Tim Madigan. 2015. The Sociology of Sports: An Introduction. 2nd ed. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.

Ferrante, Joan. 2011a. Seeing Sociology: An Introduction. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Ferrante, Joan. 2011b. Sociology: A Global Perspective. 7th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Ferris, Kerry, and Jill Stein. 2010. The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology. 2nd ed. New York: Norton.

Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.

Henslin, James M. 2012. Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. 10th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Hughes, Michael, and Carolyn J. Kroehler. 2011. Sociology: The Core. 10th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Jary, David, and Julia Jary. 2000. Collins Dictionary of Sociology. 3rd ed. Glasgow, Scotland: HarperCollins.

Kendall, Diana. 2011. Sociology in Our Times. 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Kimmel, Michael S., and Amy Aronson. 2012. Sociology Now. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Kornblum, William. 2008. Sociology in a Changing World. 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Macionis, John. 2012. Sociology. 14th ed. Boston: Pearson.

Macionis, John, and Kenneth Plummer. 2012. Sociology: A Global Introduction. 4th ed. Harlow, England: Pearson Education.

Macmillan. (N.d.) Macmillan Dictionary. (https://www.macmillandictionary.com/).

Marsh, Ian, and Mike Keating, eds. 2006. Sociology: Making Sense of Society. 3rd ed. Harlow, England: Pearson Education.

Merriam-Webster. (N.d.) Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/).

O’Leary, Zina. 2007. The Social Science Jargon Buster: The Key Terms You Need to Know. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).

Princeton University. 2010. WordNet. (https://wordnet.princeton.edu/).

Random House Webster’s College Dictionary. 1997. New York: Random House.

Ravelli, Bruce, and Michelle Webber. 2016. Exploring Sociology: A Canadian Perspective. 3rd ed. Toronto: Pearson.

Schaefer, Richard. 2013. Sociology: A Brief Introduction. 10th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Scott, John, and Gordon Marshall. 2005. A Dictionary of Sociology. New York: Oxford University Press.

Shepard, Jon M. 2010. Sociology. 11th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Shepard, Jon M., and Robert W. Greene. 2003. Sociology and You. New York: Glencoe.

Stolley, Kathy S. 2005. The Basics of Sociology. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Thompson, William E., and Joseph V. Hickey. 2012. Society in Focus: An Introduction to Sociology. 7th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Tischler, Henry L. 2011. Introduction to Sociology. 10th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Turner, Bryan S., ed. 2006. The Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).

Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wiktionary, The Free Dictionary. Wikimedia Foundation. (http://en.wiktionary.org).

Cite the Definition of Ethnocentrism

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “ethnocentrism.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved March 28, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/ethnocentrism/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

ethnocentrism. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/ethnocentrism/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “ethnocentrism.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed March 28, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/ethnocentrism/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“ethnocentrism.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/ethnocentrism/>.