Ethnocentrism is defined as which of the following?

• A. Viewing one's own culture's norms and values as the only acceptable ones
• B. Believing all cultures are equally valid
• C. Disregarding culture entirely
• D. Adopting norms from other cultures

Answer: (A)

Ethnocentrism is the belief that one’s own culture’s norms and values are the standard by which all other cultures should be judged. When someone is ethnocentric, they evaluate other customs, beliefs, and practices using their own cultural yardstick and often see theirs as superior or more correct. This bias can hinder understanding and respectful interaction with people from different backgrounds. The opposite approach is cultural relativism, which aims to understand a culture on its own terms without ranking it against another. The other ideas described—thinking all cultures are equally valid, disregarding culture entirely, or adopting norms from other cultures—reflect different concepts like cultural relativism, cultural blindness, or acculturation, not ethnocentrism.