Understanding Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism

Ethnocentrism is the tendency of people to put their own culture at the center, and to use their cultural standards to judge the behavior and beliefs of people of different cultures. People who are ethnocentric believe their cultural beliefs are morally correct and others are morally questionable. They often become so deeply engrossed in their culture that other cultures and the people in them become unimportant. To some degree all people are ethnocentric. It is a natural tendency for each of us to believe that our cultural beliefs are the best. However, ethnocentrism prevents us from becoming culturally competent and responsive to others who share differing cultural beliefs, traditions, practices, and affiliations.

The opposite of ethnocentrism is Cultural Relativism. Cultural relativism is the view that the behavior in one culture should not be judged by the standards of another. The goal of cultural relativism is to be objective and sensitive to diverse cultures without ignoring international standards of justice and morality (Kottak & Kozaitis, 2002). The key to eliminating ethnocentrism is to first acknowledge that one is ethnocentric. Becoming more culturally relative can be achieved by recognizing the attitudes and beliefs related to ethnocentrism and then working to dispel them.

Please answer the following questions and post your answers to Blackboard.

1. How does ethnocentrism develop?

2. Did you recognize your own ethnocentric beliefs and attitudes?

3. Do people within the same culture always share the same attitudes and beliefs? If yes, why? If no why not? • Is anyone culture really better than another?

4. Are there any dangers to ethnocentric attitudes in a world that is becoming more diverse? If yes, what are the dangers?

5. How can ethnocentric beliefs and attitudes become more culturally relative?

6. What are things you can do in your life today to become more culturally relative?

7. Do you think your family and friends might resist your becoming more culturally relative, if yes, why? If no, why not?

Mr. C is a 22 year old, white, single, male who is in his third year at a local university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is majoring in Philosophy and American studies. When he is not in school he lives with his parents.

He has been taken to the mental health center for an evaluation today, brought by his parents who were concerned after he was demonstrating “strange” behaviors and then abruptly dropped out of school after he failed his summer class. This baffled the parents since he has always been an A and B student. Up until three months ago he seemed to be doing okay. He was living in the dorms and there were no reports he was doing poorly. When asked why he dropped out of school, he stated the administration of the school was watching and targeting him for being a suspected spy for another university.

He stated the professor of his philosophy class warned him of this in a coded message on one of his powerpoints. None of the other students noticed this, but the message was clear to him. He also verbalized he could hear the students laugh at him behind his back. Additionally, he began hearing two voices, which he did not recognize. These voices would comment on his behavior and criticize his actions. They were telling him to drop out of school because if he didn’t the administration was going to make a public spectacle of him.

He stated he smoked a little bit of pot when he was in high school, but didn’t like it because it made him feel weird. He also didn’t like the taste of alcohol. He grew up in an upper middle class environment. His mother is an attorney working in real estate law and his father is a professor in the English department of another university in New Mexico. They stated he has always been very intelligent and always a little shy, but not overly so. He spent a lot of time alone, but his parents didn’t consider him to be a “loner” since he occasionally had one or two friends. He didn’t like to go to parties or places where there were large gatherings. The parents did not see this as odd and were glad he was keeping away from trouble. He joined a couple of youth groups in his adolescence which were tied to his church, but dropped out after he felt they were pressuring him to change his beliefs.

When the social worker entered the room to begin the evaluation, Mr. C asked her if she worked for the administration and asked to see her credentials. He was disheveled in appearance, wearing a dirty wrinkled shirt--which was different from his past habits, according to the parents. He always prided himself on being clean and neat. He was slightly agitated and during the interview got up from his chair several times. His thinking, at times, was tangential with some loosening of associations. He denied any suicidal or homicidal ideation. His only previous psychiatric history was outpatient treatment he attended with his family in a family therapy session. This occurred when he was around 15 y.o. when his parents were thinking of getting a divorce. The parents did not divorce and have remained together. The father did state one of his brothers was hospitalized for psychiatric reasons in Colorado several years ago, and didn’t know the circumstances.

Based on the above vignette for Case #1, list the principal diagnosis/diagnoses (including any and all appropriate subtypes and specifiers)

An athletic footwear company is attempting to estimate the sales that will result from a television advertisement campaign of its new athletic shoe. The contribution to earnings from each pair of shoes sold is $40. Suppose that the probability that a television viewer will watch the advertisement (as opposed to turn his/her attention elsewhere) is 0.40. Furthermore, suppose that 1% of viewers who watch the advertisement on a local television channel will buy a pair of shoes. The company can buy television advertising time in one of the time slots according to Table below:

(a) Suppose that the company decides to buy one minute of advertising time. Which time slot would yield the highest expected contribution to earnings net of costs? What is the total expected contribution to earnings resulting from the advertisement?

(b) Suppose the company decides to buy two one-minute advertisements in different time slots. Which two different time slots should the company purchase to maximize the expected contribution to earnings? What is the total expected contribution to earnings resulting from these two advertisements?

Nittany Company pays its sole shareholder, Tammy Lion, a salary of $109,800. At the end of each year, the company pays Tammy a "bonus" equal to the difference between the corporation’s taxable income for the year (before the bonus) and $68,500. In this way, the company hopes to keep its taxable income at amounts that are taxed at either 15 percent or 25 percent. This year, Nittany reported pre-bonus taxable income of $738,500 and paid Tammy a bonus of $670,000. On audit, the IRS determined that individuals working in Tammy’s position earned on average $335,000 per year. The company had no formal compensation policy and never paid a dividend. Refer Corporate tax table.

a. How much of Tammy’s bonus might the IRS recharacterize as a dividend?

b. Assuming the IRS recharacterizes $222,400 of Tammy’s bonus as a dividend, what additional income tax liability does Nittany Company face?

Paul is celebrating his 43rd birthday today and is planning for a retirement savings programe for
his family.

[Planned expenses]

- Paul’s daughter is now 6 years old and he plans to send her to a top local university in 12 years.
Currently, the cost of studying (tuition fees and living expenses) is $150,000 per year, but it is
expected to increase with the inflation rate of 3% per year. It takes his daughter 4 years to
complete her undergraduate study, and it is assumed that he will have to pay the tutition fees
and living expenses for his daughter on his 55th, 56th, 57th and 58th birthdays.

- Besides, he would need $2,000,000 to take his wife for a round-the-world trip at their 30th
anniversary when he reaches 62.

- Paul is planning to retire at the age of 65. He estimates that he will need $30,000 a month to
enjoy his retirement years with his wife, with the first withdrawal on his 65th birthday and the
last withdrawal on his 90th birthday.

- He would also like to donate $40,000 semiannually to his university, starting from his 70th
birthday through the 80th birthday.

- He plans to leave $10,000,000 to his family at his 90th birthday.

[Planned savings and cash inflows]
- Eight years ago, Paul joined his employer’s retirement plan that paid him 6% interest
(compounded monthly). At the end of each month, he deposited $5,000 into the retirement
account. He is planning to move all the funds from his retirement account to a high-yield
savings account after he made the last deposit today.

- In addition, he plans to make a quarterly deposit to the high-yield savings account, with the
first deposit to be made a quarter from today and the last deposit one year before his retirement
(i.e. on his 64th birthday). He expects to earn a quarterly return of 3.7971% from the high-yield
account. When he retires, he will have to move all his money to a low-risk account that enables
him to withdraw money whenever he needs. It is expected that the low-risk account will pay
him an interest of 2% (compounded semiannually).

- He expects to stay in his company until he retires and receive a loyalty bonus of $80,000 at his
60th birthday. The loyalty bonus will be deposited to the high-yield account as well.

(a) How much does Paul currently have in his employer’s retirement account (before he moves his
fund to the high-yield account)?

(b) What is the present value (at Paul’s 43rd birthday) of the total costs for sending her daughter to
the university for undergraduate study?

(c) How much must Paul deposit every quarter in order to meet all his withdrawal needs?

Greg and Cindy Hana, 35 and 27, are the parents of two small children with a third on the way. They are concerned about their financial future and are wondering if they're doing things right. Greg is the sole breadwinner and earns $66,000 annually. He works in a relatively dangerous occupation (city cop in Newark, NJ) and is eligible to receive a pension when he is only age 48, with 25 years of service.

The Hana's short-term financial goals are to replace their aging cars in a few years and begin an automatic mutual fund investment program. Longer term, they are concerned about college costs and retirement. They estimate (but are not sure) that their monthly expenses average $2,800, including a $1,300 mortgage payment on their $200,000 home.

Greg currently saves $350 per month in a deferred compensation plan offered by his employer. The couple also has $1,000 of stock and $2,000 in mutual funds. Other assets comprising their $74,500 net worth are a $3,000 CD, $2,000 in checking, $6,500 of life insurance cash value, their home, and two cars worth $2,000. The couple's two debts are a $141,000 mortgage balance and a $1,000 Visa card bill.

The Hanas own life insurance policies totaling $400,000 ($300,000 through work) on Greg and $77,500 on Cindy but lack disability coverage. Greg's employer provides health insurance for the entire family. The liability limits on their auto and homeowner's policies are $300,000.

Neither spouse has individual retirement accounts (IRAs). Greg will receive a traditional defined benefit pension based on his income and years of service. Since he will be relatively young when he is eligible to collect benefits, he plans to continue working in a related field through his 60s.

A glaring weakness in the Hana's financial planning is their lack of a will. "We do not know who to assign as guardians of our children," notes Greg. This is a common dilemma for parents of young children, who sometimes wait until their children are grown to draft a will so they don't have to deal with this issue.

Question

1. describe the strengths and weaknesses of the individual or family’s financial situation

2. Correction of any misinformation that the individual or family has about financial topics

The total population of the United States was 151, 325, 798 in 1950; it increased to 281,421,906 in 2000 and to 308,745,538 in 2010.

Find the percent change in population of the US from 1950 to 2010.

If we moved from mexico to USA, Florida, and still have rental property in Mexico and we file taxes seperately, how do we file in US and Mexico?

What does it mean to say that the US workplace is based on a male prototype of the ideal worker? Describe ways that both men and women suffer from the expectation associated with this ideal.