Global Mind, Ch3: Barriers: Ethnocentrism & Stereotypes

[excerpted from, Developing a ‘Global Mind’ , ?2023]

Our Big Question(s): In what ways do I view my culture as superior to others, or the norm? What stereotypes do I have about other cultures?

So, now we understand what ‘global mind’ (or global mindedness, perspective, orientation, or consciousness) means, and what it takes to consider oneself a citizen of the world. We’re excited to develop our global perspective and to improve our understanding of the world and its peoples. But what can we expect to get in our way?

Internally, we all have two fundamental barriers: ethnocentrism and stereotypes.

Two women are depicted in a drawing: one wearing a bikini and sunglasses, the other in a burka. The thought bubble over the bikini-clad woman, regarding the other, is: Only her eyes are uncovered; she must be from a repressive, male-dominated society. Meanwhile, the parallel thought bubble over the burka-clad woman is: Only her eyes are covered; she must be from a repressive, male-dominated society.

A speaker addresses a table of 4 regional representatives: What’s your opinion on food shortages in the rest of the world? Their replies: (Africa) What’s ‘food’? (Europe) What’s ‘shortages’? (America) What’s ‘rest of the world’? (Arabia) What’s ‘opinion’?

Both of these depict ethnocentrism. (The latter is also clearly stereotypical.)

Ethnocentrism refers to a central focal point based on one’s ethnicity – ancestry, heritage, and/or cultural background. It’s a natural tendency to view the world through one’s own cultural filters; often, it includes an unconscious bias that one’s own culture or group is superior to others.

When a traveler or foreign resident complains about another culture in terms such as, “Why do they do X the wrong way?” or, “Don’t they understand that it would be better like this?” or, “Isn’t this strange [funny, confusing]?” – they’re expressing their ethnocentrism. Rather than seeing the custom in question simply as the other culture’s way, it’s automatically viewed in comparison to the speaker’s native culture as the norm or standard.

This is natural as most of us grow up within one dominant cultural matrix (though complex, as already mentioned – and more on this in our next chapter), our worldview deeply embedded from earliest childhood so that we aren’t aware of our assumptions that it’s the norm. In reality, it’s simply one view of many, and as we develop our thinking, we move through various stages toward true understanding. Even so, throughout our lives as global citizens, we must continually check ourselves against our ethnocentrism – our natural lens.

The problem with an ethnocentric view, of course, is that we’re seeing the world through a narrow lens of which we’re largely unaware. It prevents us from seeing other perspectives, much less respecting them, and stunts our ability to be empathetic. It also contributes to many a false assumption and misunderstanding – for not only do we think that those behaviors and viewpoints in contradiction to what we presume to be the norm must be wrong, or at the least strange; we also wrongly assume that we understand the actions and thoughts of others when we are simply incorrect, based on our unconscious biases.

Naturally, this can also create conflict (I’m right / you’re wrong), and leads to stereotypes (everyone/all are this or aren’t that). It can be used to promote ‘in-groups’, a tribal ‘us vs them’ mentality –and tribalism or group identity is very much on the rise throughout the world, as has been well documented. This leads to very dangerous thinking and in its extreme forms manifests as racism, colonialism, conflict and war, and even ethnic cleansing or genocide. Surely, ethnocentrism is the very opposite of global mindedness, though as our natural state – we are the product of a culture or cultures, after all, and all throughout childhood we’re taught how to be a member of our society – what to think, how to act, what to believe, and how to interpret the actions of others – and are also eager to belong, to fit in. By the time we reach adulthood, then, we’re only minimally aware of our acculturation and of these deeply embedded filters or biases. Too, it can be very seductive, empowering even, to believe that we’re right, and superior to others.

We can’t eradicate our ethnocentrism entirely. We’ve had 20 years of training before we reach adulthood, after all, and most of us continue to live in the society in which we’re expected to understand cultural cues and social behaviors and interaction. Anyone who’s neurodivergent, finding it difficult to ‘read’ others or follow the expected behaviors of society, knows how painful and isolating this can be. What we can do, in our quest for global citizenship, is to work toward a ‘flexible ethnocentrism’ – an ever-increasing awareness of our cultural biases, and the objectivity of setting those aside when in the presence of cultures other than our own. When in Rome, after all….

The second barrier to our development of global mindedness, and equally narrow in perspective, is that of stereotypes. You may feel that you haven’t any, or few, that you’re very open-minded, empathetic, and accepting of others. I hope that’s true. You still have stereotypes. We all do. Many of them, in fact, are unconscious. Many of them are likely to be based in just a grain of truth, which is also what makes them so difficult to transform.

Do you feel that the French (or at least Parisians) are arrogant? That Germans are inflexible and unemotional? That the Chinese are dishonest, or obsessed with making money? That those from US are superficial and materialistic? That all Africans are poor and uneducated? That Mexican men are all macho, or gangsters? That Russians, or Turks, are aggressive? That Arabs are conservative and intolerant?

Did any of that make you cringe?

What about: women/men are , teenagers/elders are , rich/poor people are __, (and don’t get me started on religions) --?

Stereotypes are generalizations. There may be an element of truth to many of them; surely some members of each group could fit that description. The typing is in the assumption that all members share a particular characteristic – even when it’s a positive one. (Not all Asians are good at math and science, for example. And no one, ever, likes for assumptions about them to be made based on their group identity.) The problem lies in that generalization; it’s an oversimplification, a mental shortcut or heuristic, weak thinking at best. And as stereotypes are absolutes, they’re always wrong. No group is 100% anything. Ever.

The problem is not only in the assumption, and inherent misunderstandings; stereotypes quickly lead to prejudice and on to discrimination. The problem is also that they’re often unconscious. In our quest to become global citizens, then, to develop a global perspective and engagement with the world, we must continually check ourselves for any unconscious beliefs and biases we may have. Look for those red flags in your thinking: everyone/all, always/never, and other indications of generalizations or absolutes. I often find my own hidden in languages; as I’m studying a particular language (13 of them, currently), I sometimes have a certain reaction to its sounds, structure, or vocabulary, and on further examination, cultural assumptions may appear. Sometimes, our stereotypical beliefs only become apparent when we encounter people from a particular group – cultural, political, religious, gender, age, or other – and we experience a visceral reaction as our formerly unconscious beliefs begin bubbling up to the surface.

So how can we overcome our biases?

We must begin by making a concerted, ongoing effort to avoid assumptions and especially absolutes – in all aspects of life. Anytime we take that mental shortcut and assume we know or understand something, we must ask ourselves: do I really know this? Am I certain? Could I be mistaken, or misinterpreting? This type of reflection will greatly reduce the amount of our assumption. And when we recognize those absolutist red flags in our thinking or speech, when we’re saying I/they always/never, or everyone or all, we must stop and ask ourselves: is this true? Can I say with certainty that this is 100% true? If not: change it.

When I’m in a circumstance with people from a culture other than my own, for example, even if I know a great deal about that culture, after our encounter has ended I must reflect: did I interpret that situation correctly? Did I truly understand what they said, and meant, and the meaning of their actions, expressions, body language? This isn’t self-doubt so much as simple reflective exercise – which always takes one’s thinking to a deeper and more comprehensive level.

Knowledge is always helpful, and for the budding global citizen, knowledge about other cultures, world systems, and global challenges especially so. The more we know, the less we assume – and the more we realize that there are few absolutes in this world. Even so, no matter how much knowledge we may have about a certain situation, we do well to reflect and consider alternate explanations. (This applies to those encounters within our own culture, too.)

As well, we must work to avoid judgments about what’s right or wrong. This isn’t moral relativism – I’m not saying there’s no such thing as ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ – only that ‘different’ is not equivalent to ‘wrong’. This is ethnocentrism in action, when we find ourselves wondering, why do ‘they’ do this in such a strange, or wrong, way? We’re only unconsciously comparing the situation to our own cultural programming, which we inherently assume (there we go again) to be the norm.

Above all, of course, though not always easy, is to remain respectful. When we don’t understand the other person’s thinking or action, when a custom or behavior seems strange, we do well to ask questions of them in a respectful manner. In addition to reflecting on our own interpretation, asking questions – I think this is what you mean – or am I wrong? Am I understanding this situation correctly? Could you tell me more about that, or explain this to me? I’m genuinely trying to understand – will go a very long way to actual understanding.

Let’s talk now about cultural relativism, and cultural pluralism.

Cultural relativism presumes that there are no universal ethical truths, but that ethics are relative to each culture. What one culture sees as right behavior or value may be the opposite view in another, and no such values or ethics exist that are the same for all. Rather, the customs of each society are all that truly exist, and each decides what’s right for them. When we approve or disapprove of another culture’s values, beliefs, or customs, we’re doing so on the basis that there’s some mythical universal truth.

Naturally, there’s a grain of truth to this. But what about a culture that feels it’s acceptable for a husband to beat his wife? Or for boys to be educated but not girls? Or for people of a lower socioeconomic class to be treated as unclean or non-human, or even enslaved? And while many a society has engaged in conflict, mass murder, even genocide, isn’t it a universally accepted value that murder of one human by another is wrong? But – what about soldiers engaged in war? A Buddhist society might think that eating animal flesh, or even killing a mosquito, is morally wrong; a secular culture or one based on another religion may have no such compunction. We could go on and on. While we can’t perhaps state outright that there’s a universal sense of right and wrong, and while there are many shades of gray across cultures, there are some generally accepted principles of basic human rights.

Cultural pluralism, then, takes this a step further. In this framework, all cultures are equally worthy of respect and no culture has the right to judge another. Each stands on its own, without comparison to others. We attempt to understand a society’s values, attitudes, and behaviors from their perspective rather than that of our own culture. However, not all cultural features are equal, and some, based on human rights, are universally or at least broadly considered to be unacceptable. Low treatment of any whole group, for example, whether based on race, gender, class, economics, or other, is generally seen as discriminatory; violence in any form is most likely to be rejected.

Our guidelines, then, as we develop our global mindedness: respect diversity in all its forms, while seeking common ground with others, and respect the significance of those cultural differences – which comes with increased knowledge. To get beyond our stereotypes, we must first deconstruct them – take them apart and examine them closely – then discuss them with others, and educate ourselves further, so that we might look beyond our stereotypes – and simply see human beings.

The very survival of our global community requires that we continually move away from ethnocentrism and stereotyping, and toward intercultural sensitivity and understanding.

Developing a ‘Global Mind’, by Anne Hilty, ?2023

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Exercises:

Discussion or Contemplation: How ethnocentric am I? Or, how open to other cultures and their customs am I?

Writing or Recording: What are some of my stereotypes about other cultures, that I’d like to change?

Further Reading: How to Overcome Ethnocentrism and Stereotyping https://ronakb1.wordpress.com/2013/05/05/how-to-overcome-ethnocentrism-and-stereotyping/