Cross-National Dimensions of Ethnocentrism

Abstract

The effects of ethnocentric attitudes had plagued man's relations to his fellows long before Summer gave an academic explication of the phenomenon in 1906.1 The apparent universality of the attitude has been confirmed by subsequent scholars 2 at the same time that the fluidity and relativity of perception of in-group versus out-group became increasingly apparent.3 In the African context it is more usual to refer to tribalism but given the often acrimonious debate over the use of that term, this discussion will use the more neutral word, ethnocentrism. Its use will serve to remind us that the same questions can be asked of our own particularisms in Europe and North America. While there are many aspects of the general phenomenon of ethnocentrism that could be probed, the data available here permits only an examination of the patterns of ethnocentrism in two African nations, some comparisons of the two national patterns and an investigation of some correlates that reflect differing socialization experiences. The implications of differing intensities of affect-dislike between various component tribal groups in the Ghanaian and Kenyan populations are of considerable social importance, even aside from the political uses to which they can be diverted. An integration problem per se is created for a nation if some