Advanced Sociology Quiz: Understanding Culture

Which sociological perspective would be most interested in how cultural symbols shape individual behavior and interactions?

• Functionalism
• Conflict theory
• Symbolic interactionism
• Social constructionism

What term describes the process by which a person learns the attitudes, values, and behaviors appropriate for members of a particular culture?

• Acculturation
• Assimilation
• Enculturation
• Diffusion

Which concept refers to judging another culture solely by the values and standards of one's own culture?

• Cultural relativism
• Ethnocentrism
• Cultural pluralism
• Xenocentrism

What is the term for a group that is part of the larger culture but differs from it in some important ways?

• Counterculture
• Subculture
• Microculture
• Alternative culture

Which of the following best exemplifies 'cultural universals'?

• Speaking English
• Wearing jeans
• Using smartphones
• Cooking food

What concept describes the transmission of cultural elements from one society to another?

• Cultural imperialism
• Cultural diffusion
• Cultural appropriation
• Cultural assimilation

Which term refers to the disorientation a person may feel when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life?

• Culture shock
• Cultural fatigue
• Cultural anxiety
• Cultural dissonance

What is the term for the process by which a minority group gradually adopts the customs and attitudes of the prevailing culture?

• Acculturation
• Assimilation
• Integration
• Amalgamation

Which concept refers to the idea that cultural patterns and social institutions can be best understood in terms of their contribution to the operation of society as a whole?

• Conflict theory
• Symbolic interactionism
• Functionalism
• Social constructionism

What term describes the tendency to view one's own culture as inferior to other cultures?

• Ethnocentrism
• Cultural relativism
• Xenocentrism
• Cultural inferiority complex