Ethnocentrism is "the attitude of prejudice or mistrust towards outsiders that may exist within a group (in-group) in relation to other (out-group)".... (Harper-Collin Dictionary of Sociology). Importantly, there are also three levels of ethnocentrism: a pos

itive one, a negative one, and an extreme negative one. The positive definition defines ethnocentrism as "the point of view that one's own way of life is to be preferred to all others" (Herskovits 1973: 21). There is nothing wrong with such feelings, because "it characterizes the way most individuals feel about their own cultures, whether or not they verbalize their feelings" (Herskovits 1973:21). It is this point of view that gives people their sense of people-hood, group identity, and place in history. Ethnocentrism becomes negative when " one's own group becomes the center of everything, and all other are scaled and rated with reference to it"(Herskovits 1973:21). It reaches extreme negative form when "a more powerful group not only imposes its

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Approximate Word count = 505
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)