Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publications, 2018
Chapter 7: Dominant U.S. Cultural Patterns Using Value
Orientation Theory
Test Bank
Multiple Choice
1. Knowledge of the culture learned from the inside, seldom consciously discussed, is
______ knowledge.
A. etic
B. epic
C. emic
D. cultural
2. North America was home to a diverse population of how many before the time of
Columbus?
A. 1 million
B. 5 million
C. 10 million
D. 20 million
3. Which indigenous Northeastern American group may have influenced the U.S.
Constitution?
A. Cherokee
B. Dakota
C. Inuit
D. Iroquois
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publications, 2018
Difficulty Level: Medium
4. U.S. political ideas are derived largely from which country?
A. Cherokee
B. England
C. Italy
D. Spain
5. The system of representative government, the structure of law, and the emphasis on
individual liberty all derive from which European trend of thought?
A. renaissance
B. enlightenment
C. romanticism
D. realism
6. Regional differences in the United States can be accounted for in part by ______.
A. communication media
B. government boundaries
C. immigration patterns
D. transportation systems
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publications, 2018
7. Where did Irish and Scottish immigrants settle between 1717 and 1775?
A. Massachusetts
B. Delaware
C. California
D. Appalachia
8. According to studies on regional differences within the United States, which people
are more likely to be introverts?
A. people from the Mid-Atlantic
B. people from New England
C. people from the South
D. people from Texas
9. People in which industrialized nation are the most religious?
A. England
B. France
C. Sweden
D. The United States
10. People in the United States tend to have which of the following views on nature?
A. Humans are part of nature.
B. Humans’ effect on nature cannot be scientifically demonstrated.
C. Humans have dominion over nature.
D. Humans should live in harmony with nature.
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publications, 2018
11. The belief that possessions are important in life, which is a value that most of the
rest of the world attributes to the United States, is ______.
A. efficiency
B. activity orientation
C. individualism
D. materialism
12. Surveys conducted in industrialized nations during the 1980s clearly show that the
most distinctive characteristics of the U.S. character are independence and ______.
A. activity orientation
B. individuality
C. materialism
D. adaptability to change
13. To believe that humans are ______ is to believe that humans act on the basis of
reason.
A. rational
B. mutable
C. logical
D. intelligent
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publications, 2018
14. The term ______ means “subject to change.”
A. mutability
B. commodity
C. rationality
D. goodness
15. People in the United States tend to view time as ______.
A. a commodity
B. mutable
C. rational
D. relational
16. People in the United States tend to believe the source of motivation should originate
in ______.
A. the family
B. the group
C. the individual
D. society
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publications, 2018
17. Due to self-motivation values, U.S. citizens are ______.
A. less likely to vote on the basis of social class
B. more likely to vote on the basis of economic class
C. less likely to vote on the basis of economic class
D. more likely to vote on the basis of social class
18. Cultures differ in the ______ of conformity.
A. content and type
B. valance and volume
C. value and weight
D. material and importance
19. Immigration has eroded the ______ of the U.S. population.
A. transportation
B. homogeneity
C. heterogeneity
D. safety
20. In 1981, Garreau described his “______ nations” of North America.
A. nine
B. six
C. two
D. ten
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publications, 2018
True/False
1. Emic knowledge is knowledge of the culture learned from the outside, often leaving
some aspects puzzling.
2. In regard to social class, a study found that children of professional parents heard six
times more encouragements per hour than children from families receiving welfare.
3. In 1988, the U.S. Congress passed a Senate Resolution to recognize the influence of
the Iroquois League on the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.
4. The scientific method, democracy, and capitalism are institutions of Western cultures.
5. Historian David Hackett Fischer argues that early immigrants from England
established distinctive regional cultures in the United States that remain today.
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publications, 2018
6. Among the factors contributing to a dominant national U.S. culture was the
development of radio and television that nationalized politics and popular culture.
7. Space orientation is one of Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck’s five value orientations.
8. Human being-nature orientation is one of Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck’s five value
orientations.
9. The European conservative Protestant worldview dominates U.S. culture.
10. Among the world’s industrialized nations, the United States is one of the least
religious.
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publications, 2018
11. Alexis de Tocqueville found the United States lacking in independence of mind and
freedom of discussion.
12. Between 1968 and 2001, the percentage of U.S. college freshmen who said
developing a meaningful philosophy of life was a top priority grew from 41% to 83%.
13. In the United States, people typically don’t make a clear and separate distinction
between human life and nature.
14. In the United States, people have a strong faith in the scientific method of solving
problems.
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publications, 2018
15. U.S. cultural values include viewing time as a commodity and in a linear fashion.
16. People in the United States define self and others by group membership.
17. As a culture, the United States is less likely to make short-term sacrifices for long-
term gain.
18. Challenges to the jury system may reflect changing beliefs about human rationality.
19. Changes brought about by the Protestant Reformation included a growing support
of individualism.
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publications, 2018
20. Among the factors contributing to the fragmenting of the national U.S. culture are
local special interest and multilanguage media.
Short Answer
1. ______ knowledge is knowledge of the culture learned from the inside, seldom
consciously discussed.
2. Before Columbus arrived, North America was home to a diverse population of some
______ people.
3. The dominant language, the system of representative government, the structure of
law, and the emphasis on individual liberty all derive from the ______ ideals formulated
in England.
4. The United States is a country of ______ from all over the world.