1. Ethnocentrism is roughly defined as the use of one's own culture to judge another culture while cultural relativism is defined as attempting to understand another culture by using their own standards and values rather than our own. When we use the values and standards of our own culture to judge other cultures, we often come to the conclusion that the way we do things is "right" or "correct." One of the results of an ethnocentric worldview is experiencing culture shock, or a sense of disorientation when confronted with cultures that do things differently.
Describe a time when you were exposed to a different culture and experienced culture shock. Now describe a time when you caused a person of a different culture to experience culture shock just by acting the way you normally act.
Did these experiences make you more ethnocentric, or more culturally relativistic? Explain your answer.
Can you think of a practice or custom from another culture that you prefer when compared to the way your culture does the same thing? For instance, when I was in China, I noticed that families always seemed to serve the most elderly person at the table the best piece of food and wait until they took a bite before eating anything themselves. I prefer this to the way that the elderly are treated in the U.S. Do you have any similar observations?
2. Describe a family tradition that represents what you consider to be related to your ethnic background. Review your textbook Chapter 8 for ideas.
3. In a Microsoft Word (.docx / .doc) or Rich Text Format (.rtf) document, write a 1- or 2-page essay describing an experience handling a one-to-one conflict (professional or personal). Apply at least two of the concepts from textbook Chapter 10 as evidence of your understanding of the concepts presented in this module.