Xenophobia

"Xenophobe" redirects here. For other uses, see Xenophobe (disambiguation).
United States political cartoon: Uncle Sam kicks out the Chinaman, referring to the Chinese Exclusion Act. Image published in 19th century.

Xenophobia is the fear of that which is perceived to be foreign or strange.[1][2] Xenophobia can manifest itself in many ways involving the relations and perceptions of an ingroup towards an outgroup, including a fear of losing identity, suspicion of its activities, aggression, and desire to eliminate its presence to secure a presumed purity.[3] Xenophobia can also be exhibited in the form of an "uncritical exaltation of another culture" in which a culture is ascribed "an unreal, stereotyped and exotic quality".[3]

Definitions

Dictionary definitions of xenophobia include: "deep-rooted, fear towards foreigners" (Oxford English Dictionary; OED), and "fear of the unfamiliar" (Webster's).[4] The word comes from the Greek words ξένος (xenos), meaning "strange", "foreigner", and φόβος (phobos), meaning "fear".[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Xenophobia - definition of xenophobia in English from the Oxford dictionary". oxforddictionaries.com.
  2. ↑ "Xenophobia - Define Xenophobia at Dictionary.com". Dictionary.com.
  3. 1 2 Guido Bolaffi. Dictionary of race, ethnicity and culture. SAGE Publications Ltd., 2003. Pp. 332.
  4. ↑ Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, Dorset and Baber, Simon & Schuster
  5. ↑ Oxford Standard English Dictionary' (OED). Oxford Press, 2004, CDROM version.

External links

Look up xenophobia in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, February 15, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.