Key issues: Ethnocentrism
Definition
Is it a clear-cut issue?
Ethnocentrism has the same stem as the word ‘ethnicity’.
It refers to the extent to which research is biased towards a
particular race or culture. At its most basic level this could
simply be that all the participants in a study come from the
same country – or even from the same part of the same town in
the same country. However, its more sophisticated use relates
to reasons why a particular piece of research could be expected
to turn out differently if participants from another race, country
or culture had been tested instead. For example, studies on
perception have found that the way we perceive images is
learned, to an extent, so research in this area may produce very
different results from participants in England from some African
countries. For more on this, search online for ‘Deregowski and
pictorial perception’.
The cultural expectations of the researcher are also relevant
because ethnocentrism also relates to the tendency to view
the world, including explanations for behaviour, from one’s own
standpoint, disregarding the idea that other cultures may see
and do things very differently.
It is not always immediately obvious what cultural differences
there may be. Ethnocentrism can be quite ingrained and
not easy to identify, let alone to say what the effects of that
viewpoint may be. Sometimes the best we can do is at least
to open our minds to the possibility that other races and /or
cultures may not see things in the same way that the research
itself discovered.
K EY I S S UES : E THNOCE NTRI S M
Why is this important?
Any related issues?
Ethnocentrism is related to all kinds of bias in research, such as
interviewer bias, social desirability bias and biased samples. All
of these subtly encourage us to see psychological concepts in a
particular way which may not be neutral or objective.
Applying ethnocentrism to the core studies
The table below will help you to consider key points about
ethnocentrism in relation to the core studies. It does not provide
you with the answers as the judgements are your own. The righthand column indicates where a similar point occurs in another
study. Considering these comparisons and contrasts should help
your understanding further.
The importance of this is clear when you consider that
psychologists are often trying to produce conclusions about
‘humans’. It may be the case that what they have found from
a particular sample may be bound up in the particular culture
of those individuals, or alternatively be coloured by the cultural
perceptions of the researchers themselves. Psychologists should
be wary of assuming that their findings relate to everyone the
world over.
STUDY
CONSIDER
Sperry
Physiologically-linked concepts are free from ethnocentrism
COMPARE/CONTRAST
Dement and Kleitman, Maguire et al.
Maguire et al.
Physiologically-linked concepts are free from ethnocentrism
Dement and Kleitman, Sperry
Dement and Kleitman
Physiologically-linked concepts are free from ethnocentrism
Maguire et al., Sperry
Savage-Rumbaugh et al. Ethnocentrism has no bearing on animal studies
Loftus and Palmer
Homogeneity of participants
Samuel and Bryant
Memory processes are universal
Bandura et al.
Car crash task focuses on western preoccupations
Baron-Cohen et al.
Identifying emotion is universal
Milgram
Desirability and definition of obedience is culturally variable
Reicher and Haslam
Reicher and Haslam
Value of group identity is culturally variable
Milgram
Reactions to inequality are affected by cultural history and norms
Piliavin et al.
Helping behaviour is affected by cultural norms
Milgram
Piliavin et al.
Loftus and Palmer
Concern for what others think is culturally variable
Thigpen and Cleckley
Definitions of ‘illness’ are not universal
Rosenhan, Freud
Explanations for symptoms are culturally variable
Griffiths
Behavioural norms related to gambling and/or undesirable behaviours may vary
Bandura et al.
Rosenhan
Definitions of ‘illness’ are not universal
Thigpen and Cleckley
Explanations for symptoms are culturally variable
Expected interactions between doctors and patients are culturally variable
Samuel and Bryant
Conservation is universal
Baron-Cohen et al.
Tasks are not culturally-specific
Freud
Interpretations of psyche and psychodynamic concepts are affected by culture/race
norms and history
Rosenhan, Thigpen and Cleckley
Bandura et al.
Learning methods of development are universal
Samuel and Bryant
© Psychology Press 2013