SHS

Core Subject:
Understanding Culture,
Society and Politics
Quarter 1 - Module 3

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SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL, Understanding Culture, Society and Politics
Quarter 1 – Module 3
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Assistant Regional Director: Jessie L. Amin

Development Team of the Module

Writers: Ma. Cristina L. Consuelo Paulba NHS

Editors: Delia V. Mendoza, Ph.D. EPS – AP, SDO Ligao

Leo Irwin C. Lindio Principal II, Paulba NHS
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 Importance of Cultural Relativism
Explaining the importance of cultural relativism
in attaining cultural understanding

Introduction
In the previous lesson, you learned about the different concepts, aspects and
changes in your culture and society. Banking on what you have learned in the
previous lesson, you are expected to have a backgrounder of the changes that
occurred in your society – from the remote past to present.
Aside from the changes that occurred in your outside environment, you as a
social being should broaden your understanding of the different cultural values of
other people in the society.
It is understandable that you will pay attention and give importance to the
teachings and practices taught by your parents and other institutions in your
community. However, you should not box yourself to the possibility of exploring,
understanding and learning the varying culture that also contributed in raising and
molding other people.
In this lesson, we will begin introducing you some concepts that will lead you
to appreciating and accepting the uniqueness of other society’s cultural trait.

Objectives
Are you now ready to start your learning journey in this course? Great! Let’s
take a look at the Most Essential Learning Competency and the specific task that
you need to accomplish in this lesson.

Most Essential Learning Competency: Explain the importance of cultural

relativism in attaining cultural understanding.
This lesson provides various activities and discussions for you to realize the
importance of cultural relativism in understanding the varying culture that surrounds
you.

Vocabulary List
Hi there! Here are some unfamiliar words that you will encounter in this
lesson. Take a minute or two to read these words until you become familiar with
them. It would be very helpful if you will get your pen and notebook to copy the
definition of the important terms below.
1. Cultural Relativism – this concept underscores the idea that the culture in
every society should be understood and regarded on its own terms.
2. Ethnocentrism –this concept regards that one’s own culture and society is the
center of everything.
3. Xenocentrism – a position that everything about the other culture is wrong,
unreasonable, detestable and wicked.

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 4. Prejudice – an unfair feeling of dislike for a person or group because of race,
sex, religion, etc.
5. Racism – a discriminatory behavior towards members of another race.
Are your done familiarizing yourself with the important terms that you will
encounter in this lesson? Great! Now, it’s time for you to have some warming up
activity before you proceed to the lesson proper.

Pre-Test
Before you start your learning adventure, try to answer the first task below.
This task will give you an overview of what you will learn as you go along the way in
this module. Are you ready? Great!
Directions: Read each statement below. State whether you AGREE or DISAGREE to
each of the statements. Write the answers in your notebook.
1. Cultural relativism mitigates ethnocentrism.
2. The concept of cultural relativism was first formulated by Tylor.
3. Culture is always stagnant.
4. Ethnocentrism regards one’s own culture as superior to other culture.
5. Culture in every society should be understood and regarded on its own terms.
If you scored 3 (three) and above, you can now proceed to the lesson proper.
However, if you scored 2 (two) and below, you might want to give another shot in
answering the pre-test.
You are now about to read the context of cultural relativism in this module.
While reading, try to jot down some important concepts that you might find useful
in the succeeding lessons. Remember to use a separate notebook for your notes.

Learning Activities
Differentiating Cultural Relativism and Ethnocentrism
The concept of cultural relativism was first formulated by William Graham
Summer in his book entitled “Folkways.” In his book, he reiterated that there are no
universal standards of right and wrong or good and bad in evaluating cultural
phenomena. This thought suggests that what is right in one place may be wrong in
another place or vice versa. Thus, the standards are relative to the culture in which
they appear. Customs can only be judged by how well or how poorly they fit in with
the standards of a certain society.
For example:
Having several wives (polygamy) is legal on the belief of Muslim. While Christians
on the other hand practice monogamy because the concept of polygamy is
considered not good in their belief.
This simple example pictures the difference on the beliefs of two different
cultures, thereby underscoring the idea that despite the differing culture in every
society it should still be understood and regarded on its own terms.
The concept of cultural relativism is more analytical and methodological.
Anthropologists apply the concept of cultural relativity in investigating and comparing
societies without declaring one being better or more preferable to the other.

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 Ethnocentrism on the other hand judges another culture solely by the values
and standards of one’s own culture. Ethnocentric individuals judge other groups
based on their ethnic group or culture, especially with regard to language, behavior,
customs, and other ethnic distinctions and subdivisions. Thus, declaring that their
culture/customs is superior to others.
Ethnocentrism is the major reason why division amongst members of different
societies which exists because ethnocentric individuals regard their own society’s set
of cultural values as the only agreeable, acceptable and highly respectable set of
convictions. Such perspective can be turned into chauvinism¸ a position that
everything about the other culture is wrong, unreasonable, detestable and even
wicked. From this perspective, the practices and institutions of people from other
societies are regarded as inferior, less intelligent and even vicious. Hence, an
ethnocentric attitude can be an obstacle in understanding each other’s culture and
may cause tensions within or between societies. Clearly, this concept has developed
a generally negative connotation related to racism and prejudice.
The opposing end of ethnocentrism is called Xenocentrism. This means that a
person values one’s own culture than other’s culture. This perception of one’s culture
in comparison to other’s plays a great role on how we perceive the individuals
around us and the groups that we are a part of. Simply, xenocentrism believes that
his or her culture and its goods and services are superior to that of all other cultures
and people.

Mitigating Ethnocentrism
As mentioned earlier, it is understood that there are people who lauds and
recognizes the importance of the cultural values taught by their parents. However,
sticking to these learnt practices will not always be the case. As you grow older, you
will be meeting new people from other places with different cultures. As a social
being, you cannot just ignore and disrespect other’s culture just because of your
unbent beliefs and limited understanding of the concept of diversity and individual
differences.
In appreciating and accepting the uniqueness of one’s cultural trait, there
should be no good or bad culture. Instead, a broad understanding and consideration
to other culture must be put in mind. Hence, the concept of cultural relativism must
be applied to mitigate the ethnocentric belief.
Cultural relativism promotes the idea that a society has to be viewed from the
inside so that inner logic can be better explained. A society’s idea of good life will not
likely be shared by another society that interprets the notion of “good” from a sharply
different perspective. In other words, each society has a different yardstick in
appreciating the value of its own cultural trait. Through a relativist approach, it gives
a universal understanding of the humanely acceptable. Hence, the dangers of
ethnocentrism can be addressed.
Are you done reading the lesson? Great! Now, try answering the activities
below to check if you really understood the lesson. Make sure to get a passing
score in order to move to the next activity. Are you ready? Let’s go!

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Practice Task 1
Directions: Read and analyze the words in each item. Write CR if it describes cultural
relativism and ETHNO if it describes ethnocentrism. Do this in your notebook.
1. The Bicolano epic of Ibalong is more realistic than the epic of Biag ni Lam-
Ang.
2. There is no good or bad culture. It only depends on how the society interprets
it.
3. It is an unbecoming act to marry three wives at the same time.
4. The baro’t saya are the most authentic traditional costumes of the Filipinos.
5. Marikina-made footwear are durable compared to the imported ones.

Good job! Let’s move on to the next activity.

Practice Task 2
Directions: React favorably or unfavorably to the following statements. Support
your answer by stating your personal reasons/justifications in two sentences. In this
exercise, you will get a total of two points in each item - one point for your correct
reaction and another point for your justification.
1. Everyone of us has a background of the great culture and values which we
are proud of.
2. Culture is relative.
3. No culture is far more advanced or civilized than the other.
4. The ethnocentric belief developed a negative connotation in the society.
5. Racism is NOT an offshoot of the ethnocentric belief.

You’re doing a great job! If you scored eight (8) and above, you are amazingly
awesome. But, don’t feel bad if you got six (6) and below. You can still review the
definitions of the important terms discussed in this lesson to have an awesome
score.

Practice Task 3
Directions: Complete the statement to give meaning and sense by choosing the
correct word enclosed inside the parenthesis. Write the correct answer in your
notebook.
1. Cultural relativism was first formulated by (Tylor, Homans, Summer).
2. Culture is always (changing, increasing, decreasing).
3. In Summer’s book entitled (Folkloristics, Folklore, Folkways) he reiterated that
there is no universal standards of right and wrong or good and bad in
evaluating cultural phenomena.
4. Ethnocentrism is a position that everything about the other culture is (wrong,
vague) unreasonable, detestable and even wicked.
5. Ethnocentric individuals view their own culture as (inferior, superior) than
other cultures.
Well done buddy! You are a step closer in the final exercise. Keep going.

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Post Test
Directions: Answer the following questions in two (2) to three (3) sentences. Do this
in your notebook.
1. Is it right to say that there are cultures that are inferior, threatening and
disturbing?
2. Should we expect societies around the world to practice the same set of
cultural values and traits?
3. How is it possible to recognize the uniqueness of each society’s cultural traits
and not from the standpoint of one’s own society?
Congratulations for passing all the activities. I hope you have learned something
new today. Don’t stop here because this is just the starting point of your learning
journey. Keep going until you reach the end of this course.

Assignment
Directions: List down five practices that show the concept of cultural relativism.
Explain why such practice shows cultural relativism. Do this in your notebook.

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 ANSWER KEY
I. Pre-Test
1. Agree
2. Disagree
3. Disagree
4. Agree
5. Agree

II. Practice Task 1

1. ETHNO
2. CR
3. ETHNO
4. ETHNO
5. ETHNO

III. Practice Task 2

1. FAVORABLY, explanation may vary
2. FAVORABLY, explanation may vary
3. FAVORABLY, explanation may vary
4. FAVORABLY, explanation may vary
5. UNFAVORABLY, explanation may vary

IV. Practice Task 3

1. Summer
2. Changing
3. Folkways
4. Wrong
5. Superior

V. Post Test
Answers may vary

REFERENCES
Ariola, Mariano M. (2016). Understanding Culture, Society and Politics, ISBN:978-
971-9654-34-6, Unlimited Books Library Services and Publishing Inc. p.91-92
Retrieved August 28, 2020 from scribd.com/document/TG UNDERSTANDING
CULTURE, SOCIETY AND POLITICS