To explore where you fit on the low and high context continuum, let's do the following

activity... 

Top of Form
CULTURAL-CONTEXT INVENTORY
Claire B. Halverson
Instructions:  For each of the following twenty items, check 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 to indicate your tendencies and
preferences in a work situation.
Hardly  Almost 
Sometimes
Ever Always
1  2   3   4 5
When communicating, I tend to use a lot of facial expressions,
1. hand gestures, and body movements rather than relying mostly on
words. 
I pay more attention to the context of a conversation—who said
2. what and under what circumstances—than I do to the words.
When communicating, I tend to spell things out quickly and
3. directly rather than talking around and adding to the point.
In an interpersonal disagreement, I tend to be more emotional than
4. logical and rational.
I tend to have a small, close circle of friends rather than a large,
5. but less close, circle of friends.
When working with others, I prefer to get the job done first and
6. socialize afterward rather than socialize first and then tackle the
job.

7. I would rather work in a group than by myself.

I believe rewards should be given for individual accomplishment
8. rather than for group accomplishments.
I describe myself in terms of my accomplishments rather than in
9. terms of my family and relationships.

10. I prefer sharing space with others to having my own private space. 
I would rather work for someone who maintains authority and
11. functions for the good of the group than work for someone who
allows a lot of autonomy and individual decision making.
I believe it is more important to be on time than to let other
12. concerns take priority.
I prefer working on one thing at a time to working on a variety of
13. things at once.
I generally set a time schedule and keep to it rather than leave
14. things unscheduled and go with the flow.
 I find it easier to work with someone who is fast and wants to see
15. immediate results than to work with someone who is slow and
wants to consider all the facts.   
In order to learn about something, I tend to consult many sources
16. of information rather than to go to the one best authority.
In figuring out problems, I prefer focusing on the whole situation
17. to focusing on specific parts or taking one step at a time.
When tackling a new task, I would rather figure it out on my own
18. by experimentation than follow someone else's example or
demonstration.
When making decisions, I consider my likes and dislikes, not just
19. the facts.
I prefer having tasks and procedures explicitly defined to having a
20. general idea of what has to be done.

  

Your High context score is: 

Your Low context score is:    

The difference between your scores is : 

NOTES:

If your Low Context score is larger than your High Context score -- it suggests that you have a tendency
to be direct, be concerned with facts, and might tend to screen out various elements of a context such
as emotional tone.

If your High Context score is larger than your Low Context score -- it suggests that you are more likely to
be keenly aware of nonverbal communication going on around you and tend towards indirectness,
avoiding open conflict, and consider maintaining relationships at least as important as "getting the job
done."

If your scores for High and Low Context are relatively close together -- it suggests that you have
integrated aspects of both approaches and can use one or the other as the situation requires, although
this may also indicate that you might not be totally comfortable in either strongly Low or High cultural
contexts.