Ethnocentrism As Defined By The Osu Department Of...

Ethnocentrism, as defined by the OSU Department of Anthropology, is â€Å"an attitude that is centered on one’s own culture, values, and ways of acting and thinking †¦[and] may lead to unfair criticism of other cultures† (Rosenburger 8). Ethnocentrism is a natural response for people who experience or become immersed in a culture where values, customs, and shared practices are different from their own. It is the difficulty or inability to understand other ways of acting, thinking, or feeling; when one cannot process the understanding of others attitudes within a cultural context. Each culture has values – important beliefs and moral natures that underlie the influences of the interaction through history and current social, ethnic, or regional groups. Some may even participate in various cultures at one time or over time. Cultures may, and often, have underlying conflicts within them and will almost always change as time goes on and new generations form. Ever y culture is unique. They have symbols or material items that hold special value to the culture that often hold a deeper meaning that is only embodied by those who are a part of the culture (Rosenburger 7,8). Ethnocentrism also plays a large role in the studies of cultural Anthropology. Everyone experiences ethnocentrism at least at one point in time. The American culture is a great example of a culture that holds very strong ethnocentric views. Although America is one of the most culturally divers countries in the world,