ethnocentrism

American  

[eth-noh-sen-triz-uhm] / ˌɛθ noʊˈsɛn trɪz əm /

noun

1. Sociology. the belief in the inherent superiority of one's own ethnic group or culture.

2. a tendency to view other ethnic or cultural groups from the perspective of one's own.

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ethnocentrism British  

/ ˌɛθnəʊˈsɛnˌtrɪzəm /

noun

1. belief in the intrinsic superiority of the nation, culture, or group to which one belongs, often accompanied by feelings of dislike for other groups

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ethnocentrism Cultural  

1. The belief that one's own culture is superior to all others and is the standard by which all other cultures should be measured.

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Early social scientists in the nineteenth century operated from an ethnocentric point of view. So-called primitive tribes, for example, were studied by anthropologists to illustrate how human civilization had progressed from “savage” customs toward the accomplishments of Western industrial society.

Other Word Forms

• ethnocentric adjective
• ethnocentrically adverb
• ethnocentricity noun

Etymology

Origin of ethnocentrism

First recorded in 1905–10; ethno- + cent(e)r + -ism

Example Sentences

Steves's imperative to help Americans get over their ethnocentrism feels especially urgent in our current era of increasingly alarming isolationism.

From Salon • Feb. 28, 2025

That’s because, setting ethnocentrism aside, there’s simply no equivalent sports feat, during regular season competition, to scoring a goal in the EPL.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 15, 2023

But global events have somehow transformed a heavily staged show fueled by American ethnocentrism into a vehicle for cross-border affinity and real-life grief.

From Washington Post • Mar. 5, 2022

“The vision of the world expressed in his program illustrates an upper-middle-class ethnocentrism that sometimes borders on naïveté,” the historian Gérard Noiriel told Le Monde.

From The New Yorker • Jun. 24, 2019

Amongst the most remarkable people in the world for ethnocentrism are the Seri of Lower California.

From Folkways A Study of the Sociological Importance of Usages, Manners, Customs, Mores, and Morals by Sumner, William Graham