Cultural relativism is the principle of regarding the beliefs, values, and practices of a culture from the viewpoint of that culture itself. originating in the work of franz boas in the early 20th century, cultural relativism has greatly influenced social sciences such as anthropology. in sociology, the principle is sometimes practiced to avoid cultural bias in research, as well as to avoid judging another culture by the standards of one's own culture. for this reason, cultural relativism has been considered an attempt to avoid ethnocentrism. cultural relativism is related to but often distinguished from moral relativism, the view that morality is relative to a standard, especially a cultural standard.