Abstract:
Although ethnocentrism is a widely used concept, there is currently little agreement on its conceptualisation. Sumner (1906, 1911) originally defined ethnocentrism as ethnic group centredness, but his writings were open to differing interpretations. As a result, subsequent theorists and researchers conceptualised ethnocentrism in diverse ways, most often in terms of various attitudes of ingroup positivity and outgroup negativity. Many of these attitudes, however, seem to be better viewed as correlates rather than integral aspects of ethnocentrism. In addition, empirical research has suggested that these attitudes do not form a unitary construct and are often not even positively intercorrelated. This has generated considerable conceptual and empirical confusion. This investigation, therefore, set out to propose and test a reconceptualisation of ethnocentrism that would be consistent with Sumner's original definitions and with findings of empirical research. In addition, it tested Adorno, Frenkel-Brunswik, Levinson, and Sanford's (1950) assumption that there is a generalised tendency to be "centred" on different ingroups and oneself and the widely held belief that different kinds of centredness would systematically relate to negativity towards those excluded from the focus of centredness ("others").
