UNDERSTANDING CULTURE, SOCIETY, AND POLITICS

S/Y: 2021 – 2022

NAME: _________________________________YR./SEC._____________DATE: ___________

General Direction: Read the following items carefully. Write the letter that corresponds to
your answer on a separate sheet of paper. For numbers 1-5, identify whether the given
statement is an example of ethnocentrism or cultural relativism. Write letter A if it is a
sample of ethnocentrism and letter B if it is a case of cultural relativism.

1. Indigenous people should learn to change their old and traditional ways of life in order
to be happy and successful.
2. Korean culture is better than our culture because a lot of Filipinos try to imitate and
adopt this culture.
3. The Aetas of Zambales, the Mangyans of Mindoro and other Filipino tribes have
different religious beliefs. Their Gods are manifested on the different forms of nature like
trees, mountains, rivers, volcano, their dead ancestors, and many more. These beliefs do
not make them a lesser group of people, and we must see that there is nothing wrong
with them.
4. Filipinos’ religious traditions like celebration of fiestas should be banned because it is
just a waste of time, energy, and resources.

5. People in my own culture could learn a lot from people in other cultures. For numbers
6-7, classify the following practices as right or wrong. Write letter A if it is right, and letter
B if it is wrong.

6. Arranged marriage
7. Polygamy or the practice of having multiple wives

For numbers 8-15, choose the best answer for each item. Write down the letter of your
choice.

8. The attitude that other societies’ customs and traditions and ideas should be judged in
the context of one’s own culture is known as ______________________.

a. Cultural relativism b. Imperialism c. Colonialism d. Ethnocentrism

9. People around the world should learn from the ill effects of the belief that one’s culture
is better than others. Which of the following is NOT an example of it?

a. The Holocaust happened when Adolf Hitler ordered the mass murdering of the Jews.
b. Global warming is now happening and people from more developed and industrialized
countries are more liable than people from underdeveloped countries.

c.Slave trade happened when black African people were sold in Europe and the Americas
to serve as slaves.

d. Hate crimes happen when people are killed because of their religious beliefs and
practices

10. What is the most important lesson we could get from studying cultural relativism?

a. It is difficult or impossible to force your own religious beliefs onto another group.
b. People tend to be more tolerant of another culture’s customs when they understand
and learn the meaning behind them.
c. Something that is not good or prohibited in your own society might be good and
perfectly acceptable in another society.
d. When studying another culture, you must first convert to its religious beliefs for better
understanding.
11. Which of these is an example of ethnocentrism?
a. A father is angry with his son for not doing his homework.
b. A westernized woman is looking down on a tribal woman for not wearing any clothes.
c. A mother refuses to pay her daughter’s prom gown.
d. A girl bullies her classmate for being clumsy.

12. Having more than one wife is not bad from a Muslim point of view. In relation, people
must see this custom within the context of Muslims’ problems and opportunities. What
kind of view is illustrated here?
a. Ethnocentrism
b. Cultural relativism
c. Barbarism
d. Egocentrism
13. Which of the following is NOT a true statement about cultural relativism?
a. It requires us to abandon the values of our own culture.
b. It makes it possible for us to explain how culture makes its people behave.
c. It requires people to consider many factors before they draw conclusions on other
people’s cultural practices.
d. It unites us as one and make us even more proud of our own culture.

14. You are an overseas Filipino worker who went to Japan for the first time. During the
first few days of stay, you are disoriented and frustrated due to your exposure to a very
strange culture. What does this situation signify?
a. Cultural diversity
b. Cultural relativism
c. Culture shock
d. Fear of culture
15. The Kwakintl Indians of North America lack electricity supply, and they seem to have
a less fulfilling life. The Bushmen of the Kalchari are nonliterate and they appear less
intelligent. Relatively, you view your own culture as superior to them. What do the
statements above explain?
a. Ethnocentrism
b. Cultural relativism
c. Structuralism
d. Structural formalism
16. Ben is an ethnocentric. He considers other people, specifically indigenous tribes, as
backwards people who have no manners at all. Why do you think Ben come up with this
bias?

a. He regards another culture as superior.

b. He regards his own culture as superior.
c. He regards his own culture as normal and uses it to measure foreign cultures.
d. He regards another culture as superior and uses it to measure his own culture
17.Lisa was a proud cultural relativist. She sees that Ilocanos are thrifty because of their
geographical location. Likewise, she sees nothing wrong about it. What did Lisa exhibit in
that situation?
a. She believes anything goes in one’s own culture.
b. She measures behavior by how the other culture regards this practice.
c. She has no concept of right or wrong.
d. She measures which cultures are related to others.

18. What might be the result of ethnocentrism on a global scale?

a. Other people may be treated as savage or morally corrupt.
b. There is no way to determine which is right or wrong.
c. Native people often wish to colonize superior culture.
d. Believing one’s own culture is superior makes one a morally corrupt savage.
19. For better opportunities, many Filipinos were forced to work abroad, exposing
themselves to unfamiliar culture. Culture shock is a feeling of disorientation experienced
by someone who is suddenly subjected to other’s way of life or set of attitudes. Which of
the following is NOT a symptom of culture shock?
a. Feeling homesick when in a new place
b. Feeling like the new culture is superior to your own
c. Obsessing about the cleanliness of food and water in a new place
d. Feeling the hostility towards natives or locals

20. Which of the following statements is a positive effect of ethnocentrism?

a. Rina posted on her Facebook wall saying that eating fried tarantula is “yuckie.”
b. Greg posted a statement which says, “Ang galing ng Pinoy, angat sa iba, kaya’t tayo
ay magkaisa.”
c. Shiela posted a picture of Carlos P. Romulo with a caption, “This little brown monkey
that you are referring to does not eat banana peelings. He is a Filipino not an American.
d. Wendel tweeted, “Nakakatakot na ang panahon ngayon daming taong gumagala na
tadtad ng tattoo ang katawan.”

For numbers 21-25, identify whether the given statement is an example of ethnocentrism
or cultural relativism. Write letter A if it is ethnocentrism and B if it is cultural relativism.
21. Korean culture is better than our culture because many Filipinos try to imitate and
adopt this culture.
22. The Aetas of Zambales ,the Mangyans of Mindoro and other Filipino tribes have
different religious beliefs. Their Gods are manifested on the different forms of nature like
trees, mountains, rivers, volcano, their dead ancestors, and many more. I think there is
nothing wrong about that. It does not make them a lesser group of people.
23. Indigenous people should learn to change their old and traditional ways of life in order
to be happy and successful.
24. People in my culture could learn a lot from people in other cultures.
25. Filipinos’ religious traditions like the celebration of fiestas should be banned because
it is just a waste of time, energy, and resources.
For numbers 26-27, classify the following practices as either good or bad based on the
point of view of the community mentioned. Write letter A if it is good and letter B if it is
bad.
26. Women in certain Muslim and Hindu societies follow the Purdah practice of dressing,
in all enveloping clothes, to stay out of sight to men and strangers.

27. Cannibalism is the practice of eating human flesh by groups of people from different
parts of the world.
For numbers 28-30, choose the best answer for each item. Write down the letter of your
choice.
28. The attitude that other societies’ customs and traditions and ideas should be judged
in the context of one’s own culture is known as ______________________.
a. Imperialism b. Cultural relativism c. Ethnocentrism d. Colonialism

29. What is the most appropriate lesson we could get from studying cultural relativism?
a. It is difficult or impossible to force your own religious beliefs onto another group’s own.
b. People tend to be more tolerant of another culture’s customs when they understand
and learn the meaning behind them.
c. Something that is not good or prohibited in your own society might be good and
perfectly acceptable in another society.
d. When studying another culture, you must first convert to its religious beliefs for better
understanding.
30. People around the world should learn from the ill effects of the belief that one’s culture
is better than others. Which of the following is NOT an example of it?
a. The Holocaust happened when Adolf Hitler ordered the mass murdering of the Jews.
b. Global warming is now happening and people from more developed and industrialized
countries are more liable than people from underdeveloped countries.
c. Slave trade happened when black African people were sold in Europe and the Americas
to serve as slaves.
d. Hate crimes happens when people are being killed because of their religious beliefs
and practices.