Ethnocentrism, Psychological Theories, and Multicultural Research

ETHNOCENTRISM, PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES, AND MULTICULTURAL RESEARCH LECTURE NOTES As we read about the ways, ethnocentrisms can and has influenced the psychological research we are focusing on I think we need to keep in mind that this influence is present in everyone. A psychologist like every individual has had his/her development influenced by a myriad of forces. These socialization “forces" include cultural heritage, ethnic/racial identity, gender, and socioeconomic factors and influences. The influences can lead to unconscious bias, assumptions and a worldview that influences our perceptions of an individual — altering research and its interpretation as well. Ethnocentricism can always help individuals to identify other cultural challenges and deal with the rising issues in other cultures. It is evident that individuals can learn how to relate with one another effectively if they analyze each others cultural demands. A psychologist needs to be aware of the existence and effects of privilege in a diverse organization. This would help the leader to improve organizational performance through avoidance of conflicts that are created by diverse social beliefs and affiliations. A leader would easily create a diversity training programs to ensure that the employees have developed sensitivity training for its workers. These sensitivity programs would be helpful in creating an environment for dominance and social achievement. A psychologist would also create a multisystemic focus whose aim would be to educate individuals on the paradigms that exist in the society. A leader would easily identify the areas that can contribute to oppressive societies and prevent their organization from falling into the abyss of cross cultural indifference. This would be achieved by creating an organization that promotes diversity, encourages inclusivity and also supports tolerance through its policies. Ethnocentrism has been identified as an effective way for psychologists to evaluate other cultures and develop strategies aimed at ensuring those cultures abide to specific cultural norms. The theory of ethnocentrism helps psychologists to identify new ways in which they can deal with their issues and also develop effective ways for dealing with people irrespective of their social and cultural ties. Cross cultural psychology is basically focused on the evaluation of individual cultures and also enhancement of their social and psychological ties. This is because individuals get to identify their own social challenges and develop new ways of dealing with ethnic and social problems in the society. Ethnocentrism helps people to identify their social and cultural biases and stereotypes and guides them to live with each other in harmony (Keith, 2011). Ethnocentrism does have a bright side to it. For example, researchers have discovered as people understand more about themselves personal affiliation with others in the group, psychological well-being, identity, confidence, and self-esteem are enhanced. The problem is becoming fixated on a single cultural perspective can make it difficult to appreciate the relativistic nature of cultural identity. Cross-cultural communication is a field of study that looks at how people from differing cultural backgrounds communicate, in similar and different ways among themselves, and how they endeavor to communicate across cultures (Keith, 2001), Cross culture is also able. to. Define how certain typesof communications are involved when being able to have the ability to understanding one of the ways individuals, cultures speak, communicate, and perceive the world around. As a word ethnocentrism descends on the amount of limited experience and perspective, people believe their culture to be the basis of what is acceptable from all other cultures as well as when it's able to encounter with how cross-cultural psychologist have concerned with ethnocentrism is able to referring to the tendency of using one's own culture as a baseline point for comparing other cultures to. This tendency will invariably lead to biases and unfavorable actions. The social identity approach is a term that refers to two other well-established theories within the social psychology umbrella. 1. social identity 2. self-categorization social identity is a theory composed of these two otherwise distinct theories. Ludwig Gumplowicz first formulated the term "ethnocentrism," and William Sumner later used it. The term as it was defined then referred to the belief each group possessed about their always having been superior to all others. "Superiority" that extended to all groups throughout history. The detrimental influence ethnocentrism has had on research began with the definition of the term. Consequently, scholars have had difficulty recognizing the research that relates to their specific field simply because the term has been defined in many ways. As a word “ethnocentrism” descends from two Greek words meaning "nation" and "center." Due to limited experience and perspective, people believe their culture to be the basis of what is acceptable from all other cultures. The expectations a person possess have resulted from their naturally limited experiences in life. Therefore, all of us are likely to be influenced by ethnocentric cognitive processes whether we recognize it or not. Typically, we do not realize when we're thinking in an ethnocentric manner. Consequently, eliminating every trace of ethnocentric thinking is likely impossible. We are capable of countering this influential tendency, however, by first becoming conscious of its influence and then learning and growing in perspective and awareness. A cross-cultural psychologist is concerned with "ethnocentrism," as it is referring to the tendency of using one's own culture as a baseline point for comparing other cultures to. This tendency will invariably lead to biases and unfavorable comparisons. A psychologist, as an individual can and should strive to eradicate ethnocentrisms, and its accompanying biased from their research results. Cross cultural psychology is a way that many use to look at how cultural factors can influence human behavior. Although there are many different views and findings on human though and behavior, cultural differences in people of today’s society can lead to unexpected findings on how people act, think, and feel. Cross cultural psychology is emerging and discovering many differences and similarities in people in today’s society. Cross cultural psychology show and research many different ways that show bias in research so the material can apply to many of different cultures. An example of this would be research that would be conducted can not only apply to people of North American but also other parts of the world as well without displaying bias. Ethnocentrism is judging other races and cultures using standards from your own race and/or culture (Aslantas, 2019, p. 319). In many cases, it is accompanied by a pervasive sense that your own race and culture are superior to others’, and therefore if other’s races and cultures don’t fit with their ideals, they will see them as inferior, which can lead to outright racism. Ethnocentrism can impact people’s opinions in many ways, including: consumer and personal preferences, relationships, and social interactions (Shiju, Han, Yang, Hu, & Lv, 2019, p. 4). When it comes to psychological theories, ethnocentrism can impact any theories that are centered around social interactions, biases, or race and culture differences. This includes multicultural research because it can impact how people relate and react to one another. It can also impact geographical and cultural correlations. Basically, anything doing to do with a person’s ethnic background. Ethnocentrism is defined by Merriam-Webster as characterized by or based on the attitudes that one's own group is superior (2019). Ethnocentrism often serves to create perceptions of cross-culture differences with resulting intercultural conflict and negative stereotyping ( Keith, 2019). In research this can really impact the outcome of a research. People being close minded of others because of their back ground. Not every person is the same and having different diversities gives more information than a simple "same" group. The more diverse the group the more imperative information they can use. In one example is the consumer ethnocentrism. Consumer ethnocentrism increases the positive effects of perceived quality and perceved images on brand on the willingness to buy domestic products in developing countries where it may increase the negative effect of percieved price on the willingness to buy domestic (Yung-Shen, 2018). They way we look at brands when we shop instead of price is shocking. We are quick to buy the name brand because we just assume it's the best, but there are many non brand items just as good. "Ethnocentrism has its roots in words implying feelings and judgments that are centered (“centrism”) in an individual’s own cultural or ethnic (“ethno”) context" (Brislin, 2000). From the ethnocentrism perspective, it is difficult to completely divorce a person, or even a researcher, from the culture they developed in. Fortunately, it's not all negative and being ethnocentric does not imply hostility towards other groups. "We can have positive feelings toward members of our in-groups without corresponding attitudes of disdain or hostility toward out-groups—a perspective supported by the work of Khan and Liu" (Keith, 2011, p. 20). It is important to note that so pervasive can ethnocentric behaviors be that it is difficult to study individuals in psychology without taking into account how each individual's perspective might be colored by the ethnocentric in-groups they identify with. Fortunately, education and exposure to other in-groups can mitigate ethnocentric behavior. The revolutionary climate of the 1960s within U.S. society disputed the extant barriers of civil rights to contain racial/ethnic an outnumbered group. Together, a rise of dominant racial/ethnic minority scholars in counseling and psychology set the stage for the extensive examination of the impact of people’s cultural experiences on psychological growth and treatment cases and results in counseling connections. Culture was seen as the spectacles through that people noticed and explained the world, and an increasing number of specialists interpreted distinctive designs in diagnoses, treatment, and counseling results by highlighting practitioners’ inattentiveness to distinction amongst clients’ cultural experiences and the generally Eurocentric norms encouraged by numerous clients (DeCremer, 2001). Biological affects of ethnocentrism are based on some factors that are automatic. The development of a child is based on some ethnocentric factors. Children learn mostly from watching and this lends to the facts that we are a product of our environment. Socially speaking our ethnic background leads us to believe what we are taught. This is a biological advantage for some ethnic groups. Some ethnocentrism is not genetically transmitted, but more structurally learned (Keith, 2011). According to the text, Thayer states that environmental factors are not associated with ethnocentrism as much as related factors are. I find this incorrect. How many people convert to a different religion with different social values. This would make ethnocentrism as environmental as it is biological. Environmental ethnocentrism can change over time, when in-groups and out-groups begin working together more frequently. However, biological ethnocentrism and the cultural factors are more likely to continue as one progresses through life. We are all ethnocentric. We are ethnocentric in almost every aspect of our lives at given times. We are ethnocentric in our families. This means that we put our family first and foremost. We believe in our own family values and that of our family. However, we are also ethnocentric in our work environment. Think about how many people you associate with at work. I may not associate with everyone, but we all have the people we turn too the most and receive the most help from. I would even take it a step further by saying that our ethnocentric attitude applies to the whole store and workforce. The ethnic culture of our job is customer service, to a police officer, the ethnic culture is to serve and protect. I know this may seem like a fine line and not really a part of the basic premise of the conversation. However, when you think about groups, in or out, the definition does not change, just the variables. Ethnocentrism is, as the text says, seeing the world from where we stand. It is basically the idea that we are more in tune to our own ethnic and cultural background. In social theories, ethnocentrism is more centered on in group participation, rather than out group participation. We believe that strangers are dangerous and therefore we close to our own group. We look at others with a great deal of suspicion. This tends to make us more social in our own ethnic or cultural foundation. This is a racial concept. As diverse as the United States is, the in-group would be considered the majority of an ethnic or a different culture. Research has shown that positive reactions to the in-group, while negative reactions seem the follow the out group. As ethnocentrism goes it is a controlling factor of our social awareness. We are all accepted by the majority of our own in group. However, this does not mean that we cannot be accepted by members of the out-group. We work everyday with people of different ethnic backgrounds. This proves that not all ingroups are socially blind to other people. This section of the reading was very informative as well,it stated how scientists studied a number of psychosocial variables that appear to be related to the behaviors that we call ethnocentrism. Some of these are narcissism, religious fundamentalism, major personality traits, intolerance for ambiguity, and authoritarianism. A number of studies have shown that ethnocentrism may decrease over time, as group members develop experience with both the in-group and out-groups, and views of out-groups may become more positive with experience (Ryan & Bogart, 1997). Something that's more interesting is the fact that researchers have found ethnocentrism related in various ways to characteristics that we might place on a continuum of “open-mindedness. When we talk about open mindeness we talk about being open to new things and not judging something before we try it or give the individual a try or a chance to show us who they are ( this is my belief ). When reading through this section of the chapter i found it very interesting that it was some Ethnocenric bias, the chapter spoke on how different researchers all had different perspectives on who was Ethnocentric. Many researchers had their own opinion some believed that writers discussed the universal tendency of humans to be ethnocentric (e.g., LeVine & Campbell, 1972; Neuliep, Hintz, & McCroskey, 2005; Shuya, 2007). Some researchers studied ethnocentrism in relation to ethnic minorities within the United States (Gittler, 1972; Hraba, 1972; Mutisya & Ross, 2005; Prothro, 1952; Raden, 2003), nationalities (Beswick, 1972; Cashdan, 2001; Khan & Liu, 2008; Li & Liu, 1975)and toward people with disabilities (Chesler, 1965). Ethnocentrism has also been manifest in perceptions of intercultural attractiveness and competence of individuals from other cultures (Neuliep et al., 2005). The truth be told everyone is Ethnocentric or seems,to be ethnocentric or at least potentially susceptible to ethnocentrism. It seems clear, as Matsumoto and Juang (2004). According to Fisk, ethnocentrism often serves to create perceptions of cross-cultural difference, with resulting intercultural conflict and negative stereotypes, Charles Darwin was one of the first to write about it. He said that tribes tended to be more sympathetic to their own. (Fiske 2014) However, ethnocentrism, like the other forms of self-centeredness, correlated with negative feelings toward specific relevant out-groups, but not toward out-groups in general. (Read Prejudice). Scientists have studied a number of psychosocial variables that appear to be related to the behaviors we call ethnocentrism. Some of these are narcissism, religious fundamentalism, major personality traits, intolerance for ambiguity, and authoritarianism. Numerous studies have shown that ethnocentrism may decrease over time, as group members develop experience with both the in-group and out-groups, and views of out-groups may become more positive with experience. (Fiske 2014) How can ethnocentrism be reduced? Education seems to be the best answer. There are two main approaches that teachers typically employ: didactic and experiential. The didactic approach aims to provide students with "the facts" about their possible misinformed views. As with the class we are taking, education in ethnocentrism at the college level has been shown to be effective in mitigating ethnocentrism (Cargile, 2013). The second approach is experiental. This type of training includes service-learning experiences, participation in cultural events, and study abroad experiences. Basically, experiences with other cultural groups reduces ethnocentrism. Cargile (2013) also considered another unique way of reducing ethnocentrism. Uncertainty-Identity Theory suggests that ethnocentrism provides a comforting sense of certainty. Therefore, training people to tolerate uncertainty may lead to a reduction of both interand intragroup ethnocentrism (Cargile, 2013). In sum, ethnocentrism can be reduced by increasing knowledge, increasing exposure to other cultures, and increasing uncertainty intolerance (Cargile, 2013). Ethnocentrism is interesting in that it can be intentional or it can be unintentional. I'm not so sure how much of it exists these days in the professional psychological realm, but I can think of a lot of places where it is certainly intentional ... at least in my opinion. I work for an organization run by for the most part by white men over fifty years old who have been accused more than once of being their own "good old boys club". The opinion that most people who work closely either with them or in a close geographical proximity to them, is that they are better than other people around them because of their status and their ivy league degrees. They are very aware of the perception that others have of them and they welcome it. It's sad to see that that culture paraded around in such a blatant way. But that is the example that I can think of that is of intentional ethnocentrism. Keith, K. D. (2011). Cross-Cultural Psychology: Contemporary Themes and Perspectives Scrolling through some Facebook post a few days ago and I came across an article about Laguna Beach’s police department getting some backlash for putting the American flag graphic on their police cars. Some citizens believe the flag design is too aggressive, while others are surprised that anyone would oppose to the American flag. After reading this article and reading the chapters on ethnocentrism, I came to this odd debate within myself. Is being patriotic considered ethnocentric? I am the daughter of two immigrant parents. I was born and raised in the United States and relate to my Salvadorian culture. However, although my parents are Salvadorian, I consider myself American and very patriotic. I was very shocked that individuals would take offense to the design on the Laguna Beach police cars and even go as far as to say it is “too aggressive”. This is where I started questioning my patriotism and confusing it with ethnocentrism. The definition of ethnocentrism as defined by Merriam-Webster is the attitude that one’s own group, ethnicity, or nationality is superior to others (Merriam-Webster, 2019). Although, I don’t feel superior for being proud of the American flag, can patriotism be considered a characteristic of ethnocentrism? Any thoughts? Ethnocentrism is the belief of that one’s culture or ethnicity is superior to others, based on the standards of one’s culture. According to Keith (2011) ethnocentric is a universal human characteristic and we are fearful of others who’s cultures we don’t understand (Keith, 2011, p. 20). However, Keith (2011) stated that there are different components to ethnocentrism. Moreover, all though a group may have a common ethnicity that does not necessarily mean they will share the same ethnocentrism. In addition, when individuals get exposer to “in” and “out” groups, positive experiences may develop which can cause an “open mindedness” to others not associated to one’s group (Keith, 2011, p. 24). This adds additional variables to study when it comes to psychological theories and multicultural research. Since we are constantly and interacting with individuals in our “in” group and “out”, it is hard to predict our evolving ethnocentrism and attitudes towards others. The way that ethnocentrism can impact that of psychological theories and of multicultural research is that there are many different explanations of what ethnocentrism is. This can make it difficult to do any type of research with a group of people who come from different cultures and ethnocentrism is a part of it. With ethnocentrism the person is often linked to one way of thinking and this may come from the way that they were brought up say for instance their religion or just how things may have been at home when they were being raised by their parents. It can make it hard with multicultural research due to the fact that they are pretty much stuck within just one culture and do not venture out. They have their own beliefs and are not necessarily open to other beliefs (Keith, 2011). Bizumic and Duckitt (2012), propose that there are six facets of ethnocentrism: preference, superiority, purity, exploitativeness, group cohesion, and devotion. Preference means that groups tend to like and prefer their own group over other groups and their members. Superiority is the belief that one's own groups is superior to other groups in such dimensions as morality, history, spirituality, sociability, economy, development, military might, etc. (Bizumic and Duckitt, 2012). Purity is the expression of wanting to maintaine the purity of the ingroup, rejecting mixing with outgroup members. Exploitativeness involves the thoughts that one's group interests are more important than the outgroups interests. No consideration is given to the outgroups views or feelings. This leads to the feeling that it is okay to rob, enslave, kill, and exploit outgroups as long as this is in the interest of the ingroup. Group cohesion involves the view that the needs of the ingroup are more important and take precedence over the needs of the individual. Devotion involves the unconditional loyalty to one's own group. According to Bizumic and Duckitt (2012), "ethnocentrism is so widespread that evolutionary theorists have argued that it is natural to humans and has evolutionary underpinnings." Ethnocentrism can lead to conflict between groups, even wars. It is necessary to understand what ethnocentrism is in order to begin to understand ways to combat it. A major focus of psychology is in understanding why ethnocentrism occur is that each process is encountered with ethnocentrism is likely to affect cross-cultural research is in the formulation of theories. Our notions and ideas about behavior are embedded in our own culture. Consequently, even theory-driven research is likely to be affected by cultural biases. In fact, instruments tend to be focused on western concepts rather than on concepts formulated in other cultural contexts.Brewer, (2007). It's able to reduce the ethnocentrism of psychology: by recognizing the limitations of our current knowledge and by seeking to extend our data and theory through the inclusion of other cultures we can reduce the culture bound nature of the discipline. Brewer, (2007). unconscious, psychological harm to clients who persist in the relationship. Clients with strong positive self-concepts will prematurely terminate the counseling relationship. The following are examples of common errors made in counseling relationships, when ethnocentrism is not monitored: use of negative judgment words to describe the clients’ experience, behavior, or primary support network; pathologizing differences and using assessments without considering population-demographic characteristics on which the measures are normed; engaging clients based solely on perceptions of phenotype or stated group identity. DeCremer, D. (2001). ethnocentrism within the counseling relationship through multicultural counseling, which refers to a process in which a trained professional from one cultural/racial/ethnic background interacts with a client of a different cultural/racial/ ethnic background for the purpose of promoting the client’s cognitive, emotional, psychological, and/or spiritual development. DeCremer, D. (2001). The counseling profession has attempted to monitor the phenomenon of ethnocentrism within the counseling relationship through multicultural counseling. This refers to a process in which a trained professional from one cultural/racial/ethnic background interacts with a client of a different cultural/racial/ ethnic background for the purpose of promoting the client’s cognitive, emotional, psychological, and/or spiritual development. The acquisition of culture-specific knowledge has become the norm as diversity increases within the general populace. Some scholars have developed counseling models that provide a guide for practitioners to self-monitor ethnocentrism within sessions. All are efforts to minimize harm to clients because of unmonitored ethnocentrism. However, key questions remain unanswered: Is cultural relativism a real or ideal training objective? Can practitioners who maintain ethnocentric attitudes and beliefs effectively counsel culturally different clients? Can practitioners effectively and strategically self-monitor ethnocentrism during the counseling session in a manner that benefits the client? With increasing diversity within both the general populace and graduate student cohorts in counseling programs, what are ways in which training programs could strategically maximize the degrees of multicultural competence among all graduates? Finding answers to these questions will facilitate a clearer understanding of how ethnocentrism might be addressed more effectively in both training and service delivery. (n.d.) A major focus of psychology is in understanding why ethnocentrism occur. Many researchers have developed theories and presented evidence to try and explain these issues and two predominant approaches have emerged. The alternative approach focuses on social and situational factors as causes of ethnocentrism. The dominant theory here is Social Identity Perspective (SIP), which is comprised of Social Identity Theory (SIT) (Tajfel & Turner, 1986) and Self-Categorization Theory (SCT) (Oakes, Haslam & Turner, 1994). Social Identity Perspective proposes that ethnocentrism occurs when people are depersonalized: they see themselves as members of a salient group rather than unique individuals. This process leads them to adopt a social identity where their ideas, attitudes, values and behaviours tend to reflect norms of their group and their main goal is to see their group as positive and distinct (Turner, 1987). In light of the limitations of viewing ethnocentrism as due to a relatively stable, individual disposition to inequality, SIP provides a more complete explanation. However, researchers need to consider whether ethnocentrism is due to an interaction of situationally dependent personality factors and social identity factors for a more comprehensive explanation of ethnocentrism. (2010) It is impossible to understand the causes of ethnic conflicts, such as those in ex-Yugoslavia, without understanding the causes of ethnocentrism. This is one of the reasons why ethnocentrism has been studied widely by social scientists and is considered to be a fundamental concept. Nevertheless, a significant problem in the study of ethnocentrism has been a lack of conceptual clarity. Recent work in psychology has attempted to clarify ethnocentrism. It reconceptualized ethnocentrism as a complex multidimensional construct that consists of intergroup expressions of preference, superiority, purity, and exploitativeness, and intragroup expressions of group cohesion and devotion. This chapter applies major theories of ethnocentrism to the proposed reconceptualization. Theories of ethnocentrism can be broadly categorized according to what they perceive to be the main cause of ethnocentrism. These are threat perceptions, the need for self-aggrandizement, preference for those who are similar over those who are different, proneness to cognitive simplicity, broad social factors, such as social norms and representations, and evolutionary factors. Understanding ethnocentrism and its causes may help peace psychologists further understand ethnocentrism and ethnic conflict in ex-Yugoslavia and also help them build a long-lasting peace in the region. (Bizumic, 2012) Much of the research that has been done in psychology has used White middle class people as participants. The results from this research has then been assumed to be able to be applied to all groups. West-Olatunji, Jean-Paul, Shure, Goodman, and Lewis (2014) state "Under assumptions of objectivity, Western or Eurocentric notions of research have created knowledge privileging the dominant population and formulated practices causing harm to culturally diverse populations." Ethnocentrism also leads to using middle class White participants as comparison (Keith, 2011). West-Olatunji et al. (2014) also identify the fact that knowledge is viewed as culturally neutral in conventional research. The cultural identity and worldview of the researcher impacts the methods employed and the interpretations made. Because clinicians use research to help determine treatment options, ethnocentrism in research can lead to the use of this research with people of different cultures. This may lead to other groups being misdiagnosed and treated accordingly. "Ethnocentrism in research has led to the misconceptualization of culturally diverse individuals and inaccurate representation of culturally marginalized groups of people in the counseling literature (West-Olatunjiet al., 2014). The way ethnocentrism impact psychological theories according to Bizumic and Duckitt, (2012) is “ethnocentrism is a fundamental concept in psychology, but also in other social sciences. Many studies and theories have addressed it because ethnocentrism has potential adverse influences on positive intergroup relations and is also very pervasive. Under some circumstances, ethnocentrism can lead to prejudice and outgroup hostility, dominance over other groups, and could even explode in open conflicts or wars” (p. 887). The way ethnocentrism impact multicultural research today, particularly in cultures as diverse as the U.S., often involves studies in which one racial or ethnic subgroup is the in-group, and other groups, although internal to the country, are out-groups (Raden, 2003); and studies have generally continued to support the notion that positive feelings for the in-group and negative feelings for out-groups bear a reciprocal relationship to each other (Brewer, 1999; Keith, 2010, p. 21). Culture refers to many characteristics of a group of people, including attitudes, behaviors, customs, and values that is transfer from one generation to the next (Lott, 2009). According to Keith, (2011, p. 25), ethnocentrism refers to an “individual person’s tendency to use their own culture or adoptive ethic culture as a standard to judge and evaluate other cultures“ (Keith, 2011). This means that an individual is taking a bias, or predetermined point of view, which means using your understanding of your culture to judge what is normal or abnormal. Keith, (2011), also suggested that ethnocentrism can lead to bias views on cultural differences, as being abnormal or seeing them in a negative way ((Keith, 2011). Cross-culture psychologist look at how ethnocentrism can influence individual’s behaviors and thoughts, as well as how they interact with other individuals from other cultures that differ from their own (Keith, 2011). Ethnocentrism, can have an impact on psychology theories, as ethnocentrism can influence research results and processes, because of certain bias that are caused by ethnocentrism influences on their thoughts, and views.