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Ethnocentrism is a term used in social sciences and anthropology to describe the act of judging another culture and believing that the values and standards of one's own culture are superior – especially with regards to language, behavior, customs, and religion. These aspects or categories are distinctions that define each ethnicity's unique cultural identity.

The term ethnocentrism, deriving from the Greek word etho meaning "nation, people, or cultural grouping" and the Latin word centric meaning "center," was first applied in the social sciences by American sociologist William G. Sumner.

Anthropology
However, the anthropocentric interpretations initially took place most notably in the 19th century when anthropologists began to describe and rank various cultures according to the degree to which they had developed significant milestones such as; monotheistic religions, technological advancements, and other historical progressions.

Most rankings were strongly influenced by colonization and the belief to improve societies they colonized, ranking the cultures based on the progression of their western societies and what they classified as milestones. Comparisons where mostly based on what the colonists believed as superior and what their western societies have accomplished. Thomas Macaulay, an English politician in the 19th Century, attempted to validate the opinion that “one shelf of a Western library” had more knowledge then the years of text and literature developed by the Eastern societies. Ideas developed by Charles Darwin has ethnocentric ideals where societies who believed they were superior were most likely to survive and prosper. Edward Said’s orientalism concept represented how Western reactions to non-Western societies were based on an “unequal power relationship” that Western peoples developed due to colonization and the influence it held over non-Western societies.

The ethnocentric classification of “primitive” were also used by 19th and 20th century anthropologists and represented how unawareness in cultural and religious understanding changed overall reactions to non-Western societies. Modern anthropologist Sir Edward Burnett Tylor wrote about “primitive” societies in Primitive Culture (1871) creating a “civilization” scale where it was implied that ethnic cultures preceded civilized societies. The use of “savage” as a classification is modernly known as “tribal” or “pre-literate” where it was usually referred as a derogatory term as the “civilization” scale became more common. Examples that demonstrate a lack of understanding include when European travelers judged different languages based on that fact that they could not understand it and displayed a negative reaction, or the intolerance displayed by Westerners when exposed to unknown religions and symbolisms. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, a German philosopher, justified Western colonization by reasoning that since the non-Western societies were “primitive” and “uncivilized,” their culture and history was not worth conserving and should allow Westernization.

Anthropologist Franz Boas saw the flaws in this formulaic approach to ranking and interpreting cultural development and committed himself to overthrowing this inaccurate reasoning due to many factors involving their individual characteristics. With his methodological innovations, Boas sought to show the error of the proposition that race determined cultural capacity

Causes[edit]
Ethnocentrism is believed to be a learned behavior embedded into a variety of beliefs and values of an individual or group.

Due to enculturation, individuals in in-groups have a deeper sense of loyalty and are more likely to following the norms and develop relationships with associated members. Within relation to enculturation, ethnocentrism is said to be a transgenerational problem since stereotypes and similar perspectives can be enforced and encouraged as time progresses. Although loyalty can increase better in-grouper approval, limited interactions with other cultures can prevent individuals to have an understanding and appreciation towards cultural differences resulting in greater ethnocentrism.

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Alternative or opposite perspectives could cause individuals to develop naïve realism and be subject to limitations in understandings. These characteristics can also lead to individuals to become subject to ethnocentrism, when referencing out-groups, and black sheep effect, where personal perspectives contradict those from fellow in-groupers.

Realistic conflict theory assumes that ethnocentrism happens due to "real or perceived conflict" between groups. This also happens when a dominant group may perceive the new members as a threat. Scholars have recently demonstrated that individuals are more likely to develop in-group identification and out-group negatively in response to intergroup competition, conflict, or threat.

Effects[edit]
A study in New Zealand was used to compare how individuals associate with in-groups and out-groupers and has a connotation to discrimination. Strong in-group favoritism benefits the dominant groups and is different from out-group hostility and/or punishment. A suggested solution is to limit the perceived threat from the out-group that also decreases the likeliness for those supporting the in-groups to negatively react.

Ethnocentrism also influences consumer preference over which goods they purchase. A study that used several in-group and out-group orientations have shown a correlation between national identity, consumer cosmopolitanism, consumer ethnocentrism, and the methods consumer choose their products, whether imported or domestic.