Cultural relativism is a theory that states that individuals, especially anthropologists, cannot compare two cultures because each has its own different beliefs, morals, and practices. According to modern anthropology pioneer, Franz Boas, anthropologists cannot judge a culture based on their personal standards of what is socially acceptable and what is not. Cultural relativism connects to my social experiment because throughout the research study I greeted many people from different cultures. However, some of these people from different cultural backgrounds, who acknowledged my greeting, did not respond back. In Western culture it is normal to greet someone by saying “Hello” or “Good morning/afternoon.” If people with different cultural backgrounds are not familiar with Western social norms, they could possibly not understand why I was greeting them by saying “Hello.” Also, they might not know that it is considered disrespectful or rude to not answer someone’s greeting with a friendly expression or gesture, thus explaining why they did not respond. While in the Western world people typically greet each other with expressions or gestures, in other countries worldwide, greetings are displayed differently. For instance, in Tibet it is common for people to greet each other by sticking out their tongue, and in countries such as Japan and India, it is common to bow. Therefore, while I felt that the people in the experiment who ignored my greeting were being disrespectful, they could of ignored me because their form of greeting someone, is different from the greeting that I believe is socially acceptable.
The Power of Communication 