Ethnocentrism can lead to discrimination—behavior toward a person or group based solely on membership in a particular group, class, or category. Discrimination arises when attitudes about superiority of one culture lead to rules and behaviors that favor that group and harm another group.

Recall from Chapter 2 that stereotypes about and prejudice toward a particular cultural group may result in discrimination, preventing individuals from understanding and adapting to others (Cargile & Giles, 1996). Yet seemingly positive stereotypes can have similarly discriminatory effects. For example, consider the “model minority” stereotype of Asian Americans that characterizes them as quiet, hardworking, studious, and productive. As Suzuki (2002) points out, these beliefs have led some employers to dismiss Asian Americans’ complaints about discrimination in the workplace and have made government agencies and nonprofit organizations less inclined to support programs to assist lower-income Asian Americans since Asian communities seem largely self-sufficient.

Discrimination can be explained in part by research on intergroup communication. Studies show that we have a biased tendency to treat fellow ingroup members better than we treat members of outgroups (Giles, Reid, & Harwood, 2010). In fact, we even interpret ingroup behaviors more favorably than outgroup behaviors. For example, if you discovered that someone in your sorority was caught cheating on an exam, you would likely explain the behavior as an unusual situation brought on by challenging circumstances. But if you heard about someone from another sorority (an outgroup) cheating, you would be more likely to attach a personal explanation, such as “She’s dishonest.”