Impactul etnocentrismului şi relativismului cultural asupra comunicării tinerilor

Abstract

We live in a globalized world and we are witnessing profound economic, political, and cultural changes. In the context of the continuous process of international integration, the world has separated into two hostile camps: the followers and the opponents of globalism. Against the background of the controversial discussions between the two camps about the probability of the success or failure of the globalist plan, there is more and more talk about ethnocentrism (which involves value judgments on other ethnic groups by reference to their values, norms, and systems) and xenocentrism (characterized by deviant behavior from traditional values, norms, and attitudes), and less about cultural relativism (a phenomenon which promotes the common good of different cultural groups, favoring and encouraging unity through diversity). In this context, the opinion of young people, belonging to different ethnicities, cultures, and religions about ethnocentrism, xenocentrism, and cultural relativism is of interest. Pursuing this aim, we conducted an opinion poll among students,  who study at the State University of Medicine and Pharmacy „N. Testemiţanu”. According to the answers received, the majority of young Romanian are followers of xenocentrism and cultural relativism; Russian students share ethnocentric and relativistic attitudes, and Indian respondents remain to be promoters of ethnocentrism. It is obvious that these trends cannot ultimately contribute to a successful dialogue between young people, causing social distancing.