Good day everyone.

Welcome to our class in UCSP

In today’s lesson we are going to explain the importance of cultural relativism in attaining cultural
understanding.

But before we go in-depth with our discussion, let us try to recall important terms or words which you
have already learned in the past lessons.

In the box are hidden words…. And you can run on all possible directions – horizontally, vertically or
diagonally to find them...don’t be shy…you can do it.

Now, we are ready to start with our lesson. Look at the picture and read what it says with feelings.

What does the picture tells us? Yes the picture tells us that the her cuisine is superior above others. And
that kind of thinking has something to do with the concept of Ethnocentrism.

The concepts of Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism have been a critical issue in our society for a long
period of time. With the complexities of these topics, it is helpful for us to define the words to be able to
know their differences.

Ethnocentrism was coined by William Graham Sumner, a Sociology Professor at Yale University. He
defined Ethnocentrism as a technical term for seeing things in which one’s own cultural identity is the
center of everything over which all must be scaled, rated, and referred to.

It is when one views their own culture as the best and only proper way to behave and adapt or the belief
in the superiority of one’s culture.

There are three levels of ethnocentrism: a positive one, a negative one and an extreme negative one.
The positive level of ethnocentrism is characterized by a high level of appreciation for one’s own culture
and this is quite normal and healthy since most individuals feel proud about their own cultures.

It is ethnocentrism that which gives people a shared sense of community pride and group identity.

Examples of ethnocentrism in the positive level are seeing a post in FB or Insta saying “Proud to be
Pinoy” gives us a morale boost and a sense of cohesiveness with everything about our culture

Hearing about Filipino resiliency is also something that makes us proud as Filipinos for it describes our
ability to bounce-back after the country is hit by natural calamities.

Another example of ethnocentrism in the positive level is when you tend to root for your own country’s
players during the Olympic Games and the like and believe that the players or teams that represent your
country are much better than the others.

The negative level of ethnocentrism is characterized by viewing one's own culture as the center of
everything, and all others are scaled and rated with reference to it. This level of ethnocentrism could
cause misunderstanding, conflict.
Example: Lechón is a popular food in Spain, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and other
Spanish-speaking nations in Latin America but we Filipinos regard our lechon as the best.

Ethnocentrism reaches its extreme negative level when people tend to be blind from seeing things from
another perspective. Genocide and hate crimes are examples of this level.

Genocide is the act “committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or
religious group.”

In world history, however, first on the list of examples with regards to genocide is Adolf Hitler’s
extermination of the Jews in Nazi, Germany. Hitler blindly believed that the Jews are inferior and did not
deserve to live thus the Holocaust or the mass murder of the Jews happened.

Another important concept in today’s lesson is Cultural Relativism.

To avoid judging the cultural practices of groups that are different from ours, we can use the cultural
relativism approach.

Cultural Relativism refers to not judging a culture to our own standards of what is right or wrong,
strange or normal.

Instead, we should try to understand cultural practices of other groups in their own cultural context.

The goal of this approach is to promote understanding of cultural practices that are not typically part of
one’s own culture. Thus having this perspective leads to the view that no one culture is superior than
other culture.

Example of Cultural Relativism is when we understand that eating insects in Thailand is not a gross thing
but rather a part of their culture where they openly appreciate fried crickets or grasshoppers since these
foods are full of protein.

The next concept to learn is Xenocentrism. Pronounce as ZEE-nocentrism… It is the preference for the
products, styles, or ideas of someone else's culture rather than of one's own. It is the opposite of
Ethnocentrism.

Example of which is when we show our attraction to Korean culture, K-pop, Koreanovelas and the like.

Last but not the least of the significant terms in the lesson is CULTURE SHOCK.

Culture shock is the feeling of confusion, or anxiety that a person experience because of unfamiliarity
with the culture he is visiting, doing business in, or living in a society that is different he is used to.

Example: A probinsyana who goes to the city to continue her studies might experience culture shock
when she sees women hanging in jeepneys when no seats are available for them.

In our lesson today, it is important to remember that mutual respect, tolerance and acceptance of
cultural diversities or variations can be a way to understand individual differences.