Understanding Culture, Society and

Politics

Lesson 3: Ethnocentrism and Culture Relativism

Shirley M. Bahia
Subject Teacher
 Lesson Objectives:

At the end of the lesson, learners are expected to --

1. explain the meaning of ethnocentrism and cultural

relativism;
2. reconcile the perspectives of ethnocentrism and
cultural relativism; and
3. appreciate and recognize one’s own cultural identity.
 Pre-Test : What I know
Direction: Read and analyze each statement.
Choose your best answer.

1. It assumes that each society has a unique and different

form of culture that cannot be judged into one’s own
culture.

A Ethnocentric View C. Historical Particularism

B. Cultural Relativism D. Participant Observation
 Pre-Test : What I know
Direction: Read and analyze each statement.
Choose your best answer.

2. What strategy are you using when you take into

account another person’s thoughts, values, background,
and perspectives while you interact with him/her?

A. Common Courtesy C. Paraphrasing

B. Empathy D. Social decentering
 Pre-Test : What I know
Direction: Read and analyze each statement.
Choose your best answer.r.

3. The dominant belief that one's culture is superior to

others is called___________________.

A. Assuming Similarity
B. Enculturation
C. Ethnocentrism
D. Stereotyping
 Pre-Test : What I know
Direction: Read and analyze each statement.
Choose your best answer.r.

4.Japanese anime genre idolizing American beauty in its

art, wherein it emphasizes such features as large eyes,
angular jaws, and light skin. is an example of
____________.
A. Agency
B. Cultural Relativism
C. Ethnocentrism
D. Xenocentrism
 Pre-Test : What I know
Direction: Read and analyze each statement.
Choose your best answer.r.
5.Which of the following is FALSE regarding cultural relativism?
A. It is difficult or even impossible to force your own culture's rituals
onto another group.
B. When studying another culture, you must convert to its religious
beliefs to understand its customs.
C. Something that might be taboo in your own society might be
perfectly acceptable in another society.
D. People tend to be more tolerant of another culture's customs when
they learn the meaning behind them.
 • To prove your
understanding from the
past lesson, you should
be ready to accomplish
this task. The 10 words
listed below are hidden
inside the grid.
• Locate the words and
circle them as you find
them.

SOCIETY, MAN, MORES, CULTURE,

POWER, LAWS, LANGUAGE,
POLITICS, BELIEFS, NORMS
Guide questions: 1) What can you say about the picture? 2. What does the map tell you about how the Chinese see themselves in
relation to the world?
 WHAT IS ETHNOCENTRISM?

• Ethnocentrism is the view that one’s own cultural elements such as norms,
values, ideology, customs, and traditions are dominant and superior to others
(Brown, 2007).
• William Graham Sumner (1906) coined the term ethnocentrism in his work
Folkways that served as the foundation in social analysis of every culture.
• According to his definition, ethnocentrism is a technical name to see things in
which one’s own cultural identity is the center of everything over which all must
be scaled, rated, and referred to. This perspective led to conceited behavior
and the belief of the superiority of one’s own group with great prejudice to
outsiders.
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
A person who is ethnocentric will shun and look down upon other
cultures and the ways they do things (also known as “cultural bias”).
They will have a narrow-minded outlook that fails to see things from
other people’s perspectives (often manifesting itself as cultural
blindness). They may also ascribe to the concept of cultural
universalism (Only one code of conduct that shall apply to all people and
culture).

Ethnocentrism can be a contributing factor to prejudice, racism, and

xenophobia. In all these instances, you’re considering yourself and
your culture to be the best compared to all others.
 ETHNOCENTRISM IN THE PHILIPPINES
It can be seen in Philippine society that ethnocentrism is still emerging. The
sense of identity seems to be a contributing reason for this. It goes deeper in
our history that the mixture of different cultures has created several identity
marks resulting in our diverse cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible.

1. Judging Other Countries’ Diets

2. Expecting Others To Speak English
3. Chopsticks Vs Western Cutlery

4. Thinking You Don’t Have An Accent (And Everyone Else Does!)

5. Judging Women’s Cultural Outfits

6. Delegitimizing Others’ Religious Celebrations

Chinof (2016) made some observations on how to address
this growing concern on Filipino ethnocentrism.

1. Identify indigenous culture that truly reflects Filipino

identity.
2. Eliminate foreign influences and stick to “home-grown"
practices.
3. If we want to settle our identity, we must accept the good
part of the foreign influences that come to us.
 What is 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.

Example : Breastfeeding, child labor, same-sex marriage, fixed marriage

pre-marital sex, display of public affection, dress code for women
CULTURAL RELATIVISM
 Generalization
• Ethnocentrism is the view that one’s own cultural elements such
as norms, values, ideology, customs, and traditions are dominant
and superior to others, while 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.
• The aspect of mutual respect and understanding must be
observed. This is the first step towards a deeper appreciation of
one’s culture. Tolerance and acceptance of cultural diversities
within the bounds of our own moral and ethical standard can be a
way to understand individual differences
 Written Task 2: Article Analysis

We are exposed to several societies and cultures making

us aware that their thinking and valuing may be different
from our own; therefore, cultural relativism makes it
possible for us to understand these concerns deeply

• Read and analyze the given article.

• Answer the guide questions below.
• Write your answer in whole sheet of paper
 REFLECTION

For today’s topic, I learned that

______________________________________________
I realized that
______________________________________________
From now on,
______________________________________________
______________________________________________

**Write your answer in your notebook.

Performance Task 2: “Invitation to my friend”

• Create an INVITATION (via letter, vlog, blog, jingle,

poetry) to your friend inviting him/her to visit your
hometown. Your letter should contain list of your town’s
popular culture and practices that will attract your friend
to visit.

• Write your output in a 1 whole sheet of paper (you can type/encode it)
• Submission on September 25-27, 2023