Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
CARAGA REGION
SCHOOLS DIVISION OF AGUSAN DEL SUR

Learners’ Activity Sheets

Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics
Quarter 1– Week 3
Cultural Relativism and Ethnocentrism

D.O Plaza Government Center, Patin-ay Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur

depedagusandelsur@deped.gov.ph
(085) 839-5456
 Republic of the Philippines
Department of Education
CARAGA REGION
SCHOOLS DIVISION OF AGUSAN DEL SUR

Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics

Learners’ Activity Sheets
Quarter 1- Week 3: Cultural Relativism and Ethnocentrism
First Edition, 2020

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Development Team of the Learners’ Activity Sheets

Writer/s: Arniño Divino L. Suat

Editor/s: Lalaine S. Gomera, Airyn M. Arbuliente
Illustrator:
Layout Artist:
Lay-out Reviewer: Blessy T. Suroysuroy
Management Team: Minerva T. Albis
Lorna P. Gayol
Lelani R. Abutay
Lalaine S. Gomera

D.O Plaza Government Center, Patin-ay Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur

depedagusandelsur@deped.gov.ph
(085) 839-5456
 Republic of the Philippines
Department of Education
CARAGA REGION
SCHOOLS DIVISION OF AGUSAN DEL SUR

Learners’ Activity Sheets

Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics
Quarter 1– Week 3
Cultural Relativism and Ethnocentrism

D.O Plaza Government Center, Patin-ay Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur

depedagusandelsur@deped.gov.ph
(085) 839-5456
 LEARNERS’ ACTIVITY SHEETS IN UNDERSTANDING
CULTURE, SOCIETY, AND POLITICS
Quarter 1 Week 3

Name: ______________________________________ Grade & Section: ____________

School: _____________________________________ Date: ____________
Teacher: ____________________________________ Score: ____________

I. Learning Competency
Explain the importance of cultural relativism in attaining cultural
understanding.

II. Key Concepts

ETHNOCENTRISM
Ethnocentrism is a belief that one’s own culture is better than others. It is an
act of evaluating other cultures according to the perceptions originating in the
standards and customs of one’s own culture. Also, the worldview of an
ethnocentric is based on the beliefs, assumptions, expectations, and values
shaped by one’s language, behavior, customs, values, religions and other aspects.
Due to ethnocentric beliefs, many people are blinded from seeing things in
another perspective. Ethnocentric people tend to dislike or make false judgment
on other cultures. They tend becoming biased and judge another culture as bad
and wrong.
Even though we deny it, most of us are ethnocentric at some point in our
lives. Some do not even realize that they are being ethnocentric at that moment.

Below are some of the examples of ethnocentrism:

a. The American society sees themselves as a world leader. As a result, they

interfere in the political affairs of other countries and try to control them,
leading to misunderstanding and miscommunication amongst nations
which sometimes result to war.
b. During the time of Adolf Hitler, Germans believed that they are a superior
race. This led to the death of 6 million Jews whom they considered as an
inferior race.
c. European countries go beyond their ethnocentric biases and saw non-
European cultures as uncivilized and underdeveloped countries of savages
and barbarians. They used this perspective to justify colonialism and
imperialism.
d. Cases of hate crimes and terrorism violence can usually be traced back to
religious conflicts and misunderstandings.

Cultural Relativism as the Opposite View

Cultural relativism is a belief that cultures are equally complex. There is no
such thing as superior or inferior culture. Further, it is an idea that all norms,
beliefs, and values are dependent on their cultural context and should be treated
as such. Thus, it is an acknowledgement of the other culture existence.

Cultural relativism is significant in studying the culture of other people. It

is a way of viewing the beliefs, values, and practices of a culture from its own
viewpoint. The following are its features:

• It promotes greater appreciation of the cultures that an

individual might encounter along the way.
• It is a good way to rehearse the norms and values of a society –--
a requirement that one must subscribe to, regardless of his/her
cultural origin.
• It means that the function and meaning of a trait are relative to
its cultural setting.

However, it should be noted that cultural relativism does not mean that all
customs are equally valuable nor it does not imply that no customs are harmful.
There are some patterns of behavior may hurt otherwise this pattern is applicable
in other purpose. The heart of culture relativism is embracing one’s culture
because it work wells in the setting it serve unless very harmful in general and
there’s an urge for substituting such practice.

Xenocentrism and Xenophobia

Aside from ethnocentrism and cultural relativism, there are other ways
how others evaluate one’s culture – this is xenocentrism and xenophobia. Read
the graphics below to understand the meaning and differences of these two
concepts.

XENOCENTRISM XENOPHOBIA

-Preference for -Fear of foreign culture

foreign culture.
-Includes the identity
-a belief that loss, suspicion,
one’s culture is aggression, and secures
inferior. the culture’s purity.

III. Guided Practice

Activity #1. AM I DIFFERENT?
Directions: Fill in “‘Me’ and My Culture” table by describing how you behave and
practice your own culture under similar circumstances.
“THEM” OR THEIR CULTURE MY CULTURE
Marriage
A man can have multiple wives. He can share his wife to his
brothers and visitors as a sign of hospitality.
(Eskimos)
Behavior
When entering a nearly empty movie theater or public
vehicle, you are rude when you do not sit beside the only
person in the theater or public vehicle.
(South Africa)
Hand Gestures
The V- hand gesture is an offensive sign in United Kingdom,
Australia, and South Africa. In Japan, China, and
South Korea, using this symbol with the palm facing the
person means he/she is looking cute in picture.
Child-rearing
To control their population in difficult environments,
Eskimos sometimes kill their children if they could not take
care of them. They also kill females more than males.
(Infanticide)
Religion
Individuals practicing Hinduism believe in millions of gods
and goddesses. All are responsible for governing their lives,
destiny, and fate.
Reading text
Hebrew and Arabic books are read from right to left.
Table Manners
Europeans and Americans use spoon and fork in eating,
while Chinese and Koreans use chopsticks.

Activity #2. AND SO, AM I DIFFERENT?

Directions: After you filled out the Activity #1, answer the following questions.

1. What can you say about the culture of these people?

2. Are their respective cultures the same as your own culture? In what ways
are they similar and in what ways do they differ?
3. Can we consider some of their cultural practices as right or wrong? Explain.
4. Which of the two sets of cultures is the best, their cultures, or your own
culture? Why?
5. If one culture behaves in a particular act, does it mean that all cultures can
behave the same way? Discuss further.

IV. Independent Practice

Activity #3: #iREACT
Directions: Read the different scenarios below then state your reason why you
agree or disagree. Be honest in responding then write your short reflection if you
have a discipline of an ETHNOCENTRIC OR CULTURAL RELATIVIST

SCENARIO AGREE/DISAGREE SHORT

REFLECTION
1. One society can call another
society as evil such as those nations
where terrorist live. These places are
 also called an “axis of evil”.
2. The Manobos are backwards
people because they are uneducated
3. We have to avoid going to places
like Siquijor and Capiz because
monsters called Aswang infest these
places.
4. KDrama and KCulture is for
“Jejemons”
5. Filipino Entertainments (Music,
Movie and the like) are obsolete and
boring.

V. Application
Activity #4. Learning Task 2: YOU SOCIALIZE
People are likely to be tolerant of another culture’s customs when they
understand and learn the meaning behind them. To understand an unfamiliar
culture, you will conduct a simple case study examining the culture of other
people. The subject of your study could be people who identify themselves as
Tagalog, Bisaya, Bicolano, or another ethnicity. If you know someone who belongs
to an indigenous group of people, it is much better to have them as subjects. Since
you are not allowed to go out at as pandemic threatens, look for someone who is
near to your place or whom you have contact with through social media.

Be guided with the following questions as you write your case study:
1. Describe the group of people that you chose. Who are they? What do they
do? Where did they come from? What do you know about them?
2. Discuss their way of life in terms of:
a. Social organizations
b. Language
c. Religion
d. Arts and literature
e. Economic systems
f. Values, beliefs, and traditions
3. Summarize what you have learned using the 3-2-1 chart below:

3 Things I learned from them

2 Things I found interesting

1 Thing I realized
IV. Assessment
Directions: Read the statements and choose the best answer.
1. Ben is ethnocentric. He considered other people, specifically indigenous tribes,
as backwards people who have no manners at all. Why do you think Ben come up
with this bias?
a. He regards another culture as superior.
b. He regards his own culture as superior.
c. He regards his own culture as normal and uses it to measure foreign
cultures.
d. He regards another culture as superior and uses it to measure his
own culture
2. Lisa was a proud cultural relativist. She sees that Ilocanos are thrifty because
of their geographical location. Likewise, she sees nothing wrong about it. What
did Lisa exhibit in that situation?
a. She believes anything goes in one’s own culture.
b. She measures behavior by how the other culture regards this
practice.
c. She has no concept of right or wrong.
d. She measures which cultures are related to others.
3. What might be the result of ethnocentrism on a global scale?
a. Other people may be treated as savage or morally corrupt.
b. There is no way to determine which is right or wrong.
c. Native people often wish to colonize superior culture.
d. Believing one’s own culture is superior makes one a morally corrupt
savage.
4. For better opportunities, many Filipinos were forced to work abroad, exposing
themselves to unfamiliar culture. Culture shock is a feeling of disorientation
experienced by someone who is suddenly subjected to other’s way of life or set of
attitudes. Which of the following is NOT a symptom of culture shock?
a. Feeling homesick when in a new place
b. Feeling like the new culture is superior to your own
c. Obsessing about the cleanliness of food and water in a new place
d. Feeling the hostility towards natives or locals
5. Which of the following statements is a positive effect of ethnocentrism?
a. Rina posted on her Facebook wall saying that eating fried tarantula
is “yuckie.”
b. Greg posted a statement which says, “Ang galing ng Pinoy, angat sa
iba, kaya’t tayo ay magkaisa.”
c. Shiela posted a picture of Carlos P. Romulo with a caption, “This
little brown monkey that you are referring to does not eat banana
peelings. He is a Filipino not an American.
d. Wendel tweeted, “Nakakatakot na ang panahon ngayon daming
taong gumagala na tadtad ng tattoo ang katawan.”
Answer Key

5. b
4. c
3. d
2. a
1. b
Assessment

Answers may vary

Activity 4

Answers may vary

Activity 3

Answers may vary

Activity 2
Answers may vary
Activity 1

References:
Barger, Ken (2019). “Ethnocentrism”. Accessed July 6, 2021. Retrieved from
https://anthkb.sitehost.iu.edu/ethnocen.htm
Khan Academy. “Cultural Relativism”. Accessed July 6, 2021. Retrieved from
https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/mcat/society-and-
culture/culture/v/subculture-vs-counterculture
Lumenlearning. “Cultural Relativism”. Accessed July 6, 2021. Retrieved from
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/culturalanthropology/chapter/cultural-
relativism/
Lumenlearning. “Ethnocentrism”. Accessed July 6, 2021. Retrieved from
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/culturalanthropology/chapter/ethnocentrism/