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EthnocentrismandEthnorelativism1Ifweacceptthebeliefthatourpastinfluencesourviewofrealityandthecorrespondingtenet(n.信条)thateachofusmayhavesimilarbutnotidenticalpersonalhistories,thenitshouldfollowthatanotherperson’spictureoftheuniversewillnotbeexactlylikeours.Yetmostofusactasifourwayofperceivingthingsisthecorrectandonlyway.2Inourdailyactivitiesthesedifferencesinperceptionappearbetweendifferentgroups.Variousgenerations,minorities,occupations,andcultureshaveconflictingvaluesandgoalsthatwillinfluencetheirorientationandinterpretationofreality.3Ourcultureisamajorfactorinperceptualdiscrepancies.Culturehelpssupplyuswithourperspectiveofreality.Forexample,ifourculturesadmiresthinwomen,thenwewouldtendtohavenegativereactions(atleastconcerningappearance)toculturesthatvenerate(v.尊敬)thestoutfemale.Undoubtedly,weevaluatethembyourgroup’sculturalstandards.Ourculturetellsus,inavarietyofways,howtojudgeothersandwhattouseascriteriaforthosejudgments.Thedangerofsuchevaluationsisthattheyareoftenfalse,misleading,andarbitrary.Itistrulyanaïveviewoftheworldtobelieveandbehaveasifweandourculturehavediscoveredthetrueandonlysetofnorms.4Whenourperceptionsandsubsequentcommunicationbehaviorarecharacterizedbythisnarrowandrigidorientation,weareguiltyofethnocentrism,thatis,negativelyjudgingaspectsofanotherculturebythestandardsofone’sownculture.Theword“ethnocentrism”isderivedfromtwoGreekwords:ethnos,or“nation”;andkentron,or“center.”Itisthetechnicalnamefortheviewofthingsinwhichone’sowngroupisthecenterofeverything,andallothersarescaledandratedwithreferencetoit.Thissuggeststhatethnocentrismoccurswhenournationisseenasthecenteroftheworldandthebeliefs,values,norms,andpracticesofourownculturearetakenassuperiortothoseofothers.5Inotherwords,ethnocentrismreferstoourtendencytoidentifywithourin-group(e.g.ethnicorracialgroup,culture)andtoevaluateout-groupsandtheirmembersaccordingtoitsstandard.Becauseofethnocentrism,wetendtoviewourownculturalvaluesandwaysofdoingthingsasmorereal,orasthe“right”andnaturalvaluesandwaysofdoingthings.Themajorconsequenceoftheviewisourin-group’svaluesandwaysofdoingthingsareseenassuperiortotheout-groups’valuesandwaysofdoingthings.6Theaboveshouldnotbetakentosuggestethnocentrismisalwaysdeliberate.Oftentheexpressionofethnocentrismisafunctionofhowwearesocialized.PeoplebornandraisedintheUnitedStates,forexample,aretaughtmanysubtlecuessuggestingtheUnitedStatesisthecenteroftheworld.Considerthemajorleaguebaseballchampionshipseriesplayedbetweenthewinnersofthetwoleagues.IsitcalledtheUnitedStatesSeries?No,obviouslynot;itiscalledtheWorldSeries,implyingthatnoothernationhasbaseballteams(grantedtherearenowCanadianteamsintheWorldSeries,butnoJapanese,Korean,orMexicanteams).AnotherexampleofthetendencyforpeopleintheUnitedStatestoviewtheircountryasthecenteroftheworldisintheuseoftheterm“American.”WemustrememberthatcitizensoftheothercountriesfromNorth,Central,andSouthAmericaarealso“Americans.”(someotherexamples:China-MiddleKingdom)7Ethnocentrismcanalltooeasilyleadto“us”versus“them”thoughtandlanguage.Itseemsaspeoplecreateacategorycalled“us,”anothercategoryof“not-us”or“them”iscreated.Thecollectivepronouns“us,”and“them”becomepowerfulinfluencesonperception.Thenamesgivento“them”canbeusedtojustifytheirsuppression(镇压)andeventheirextermination（根除）.（Forexample,Jews:bacilli（病菌）,parasite（寄生虫）,disease,demon（恶魔）,plague（瘟疫）;NativeAmericans:savage;“LaoWai”.）8Bycontrast,ethnorelativismmaintainsthatculturescanonlybeunderstoodrelativetoanother;thereisnoabsolutestandardofrightnessorgoodnessthatcanbeappliedtoculturalbehavior;culturaldifferencesisneithergoodnorbad;itisjustdifferent.Eachculturehasitsuniquewayofjudgingandcomparingculturaldissonance(不一致).Inotherwords,ethonorelarivisminvolvestheviewthatallculturesareofequalvalueandthevaluesandbehaviorofaculturecanonlybejudgedusingthatculturesasaframeofreference.9Ethnorelativismsuggeststhattheonlywaywecanunderstandthebehaviorofothersisinthecontextoftheirculture.Evaluationsmustberelativetotheculturalbackgroundoutofwhichtheyraise.Nooneculturaltraitis“right”or“wrong”;itismerely“different”fromalternativeculturaltraits.Thisisnottosaywemustnevermakevaluejudgmentsofpeopleinothercultures.Makingthemisoftennecessary.Butitdoescallforustosuspendjudgmentwhendealingwithpeopleofaculturedifferentfromourown.Weshouldthinktwicebeforeapplyingthenormsofourculturetoothercultures.Adequateinformationaboutthenatureoftheculturaldifferencesbetweenpeoples,theirrootsandtheirconsequences,shouldprecedejudgmentandaction.