Test Your Cultural IQ

This brief quiz demonstrates how cultural filters affect our daily communications. After reading the questions below, select the answer that most closely reflects your own beliefs. Sit down with a colleague or friend to discuss your choices. During the dialogue, identify how and why your assumptions differed. Remember, the goal is not to find consensus but rather to better understand how cultural lenses shape our responses to the things we see, the places we go, and the people we meet.

1. HEADLINE: AS THE VISION FADES, THE INDIGNITIES GROW
   The headline for this New York Times article most likely was about:
   
   1. CEOS who lose their way and are about to be fired.
   2. Baby boomers in need of reading glasses.
   3. The war in Iraq.
   4. I read the article so I won't give the correct answer away.
   (The correct answer is 2.)


2. WHEN ORDERING A CHEESESTEAK IN PHILADELPHIA ONE SHOULD SAY:
   
   1. "Wit or widout,"
   2. Without onions, just the cheese, please.
   3. Gimmie a steak with the works.
   (The official visitors' site for Philadelphia says the correct way to respond is "Wit" for "Yes, I would like Whiz and onions," or "Widout" for "No ,just the cheese.")


3. THE SIGN IN FRONT OF THE RESTAURANT STATES; "NOW HIRING FRIENDLY PEOPLE." AFTER READING THE SIGN, HOW ARE YOU MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND.
   
   1. I'd walk away because there probably aren't ANY friendly people working there right now.
   2. I'd go in because management only hires friendly people.


4. A REPORTER WRITES, "THE ANTI-MUSLIM BACKLASH WAS INSPIRED BY THE TRAGIC EVENTS OF 9/11." THE REPORTER'S USE OF THE WORD "INSPIRED" INDICATES TO YOU:
   
   1. The reporter was most likely working on deadline and made a mistake.
   2. The reporter believes the backlash against Muslims is understandable or justified.
   3. The reporter made a grammatical error.
   4. The reporter was just telling it like it is.


5. A NEWSPAPER HEADLINE ABOUT A BLACK CONVICT ON DEATH ROW POSES THIS QUESTION: WHO CARES IF THIS MAN DIES? HOW WOULD YOU EXPECT THAT READERS MIGHT RESPOND? WOULD THEY CONCLUDE:
   
   1. The newspaper is inciting racial bias and hatred.
   2. The newspaper is just doing its job by asking the tough questions.
   3. This newspaper wants to sell more newspapers.