Social Distance Essay

We decide who we want to have any interaction with by social distance. Social distance is the amount we associate ourselves with individuals of an unfamiliar social group. In the book Understanding Race and Ethnic Relationships, there is an example of social distance on page 4. People who attend the gym frequently and go to health classes share the same interests, so in that case, gym goers are more likely to have a conversation with a stranger who is also at the gym (Parrillo, 2016). In pretty much any day to day task we do, social distance can be applied. I observe social distance within myself and seeing other people do it. The main one I am guilty of doing is if I see another person who enjoys makeup as much as I do, I will strike up a

Ethnocentrism is people viewing their own culture as being the best out of every culture (Parrillo, 2016). If people only associate themselves with people of similar interests and follow ethnocentrism, how are they ever going to learn new ways of doing things? They’re not going to. I think the best example of ethnocentrism that I’ve personally witnessed is the World Cup example on page 16 in Understanding Race and Ethnic Relationships. People who watch the World Cup are “under the impression” (Parrillo, 2016) that their team is the best out of them all. Everyone shows their support and pride by making signs, wearing jerseys, and waving flags associated with their team of choice (Parrillo, 2016). I think that is expected of all sports fans though, they want their team to win, so they represent their team of choice. Even though social distance and ethnocentrism bring out some negative aspects, they are how we have been doing things for so many years, and I don’t see it changing anytime soon. I do think we could make personal minor changes, by breaking out of our comfort zone and strike up conversations with more people that may or may not have the same