Chapter 6 Vocabulary

Question 1

Co-Cultures

Answer 1

Groups of people living within a dominant culture but exhibiting communication that is sufficiently different to distinguish them from the dominant culture.

Question 2

Collectivist Culture

Answer 2

Emphasizes community, collaboration, shared interest, harmony, the public good, and avoiding embarrassment.

Question 3

Culture

Answer 3

The values, attitudes, beliefs, orientations, and underlying assumptions prevalent among people in a society.

Question 4

Culture Shock

Answer 4

The psychological discomfort you may feel when you attempt to adjust to a new cultural situation.

Question 5

Dominant Culture

Answer 5

The attitudes, values, beliefs, and customs that the majority of people in a society hold in common.

Question 6

Egocentricity

Answer 6

A selfish interest in one own’s needs, to the exclusion of everything else.

Question 7

Ethnicity

Answer 7

A classification of people based on combinations of shared characteristics such as nationality, geographic origin, language, religion, ancestral customs, and tradition.

Question 8

Ethnocentrism

Answer 8

The belief that one’s own culture is superior to others.

Question 9

Feminine Culture

Answer 9

A culture in which people, regardless of sex, are expected to assume a variety of roles based on the circumstances and their own choices.

Question 10

Flexibility

Answer 10

The ability to adjust your communication to fit the other person and the situation.

Question 11

High Power-Distance

Answer 11

The cultural belief that inequalities in power, status, and rank are “natural” and that these differences should be acknowledged and accentuated.

Question 12

High Uncertainty-Avoidance Cultures

Answer 12

Cultures characterized by a low tolerance for, and a high need to control, unpredictable people, relationships, or events.

Question 13

Individualistic Culture

Answer 13

Emphasizes personal rights and responsibilities, privacy, voicing one’s opinion, freedom, innovation, and self-expression.

Question 14

Intercultural Communication

Answer 14

Interactions that occur between people whose cultural assumptions are so different that the communication between them is altered.

Question 15

Intercultural Empathy

Answer 15

Imaginatively placing yourself in the dissimilar other person’s cultural world to attempt to experience what he or she is experiencing.

Question 16

Low-Power Distance

Answer 16

The cultural belief that inequalities in power, status, and rank should be underplayed and muted.

Question 17

Low Uncertainty-Avoidance Cultures

Answer 17

Cultures characterized by greater acceptance of, and less need to control, unpredictable people, relationships, or events.

Question 18

Masculine Culture

Answer 18

A culture in which people are expected to adhere to traditional sex roles.

Question 19

Prejudice

Answer 19

A rigid attitude based on group membership.

Question 20

Religion

Answer 20

A system of beliefs shared by a group and that supplies the group with an entity(ies) for devotion, rituals for worship, and a code of ethics.

Question 21

Social Class

Answer 21

An indicator of a person’s position in a social hierarchy, as determined by income, education, occupation, and social habits.

Question 22

Stereotypes

Answer 22

Attributions that cover up individual differences and ascribe certain characteristics to a group of people.

Question 23

Altruism

Answer 23

A display of genuine and unselfish concern for the welfare of others.