According to a dominant tradition in social anthropology every culture seeks to make sense of the world and of the role of humans in it by providing answers to five basic questions:
Each culture generates a constellation of answers to these questions, forming the basic assumptions shared by members of the culture and thereby providing the moral and cognitive underpinning for their worldview and behavior.
Antal, A. B & Friedman, V. (2003), Negotiating Reality as An Approach to Intercultural Competence
- What is the character of human nature? For example, are humans "naturally" good or do they tend to evil if not properly controlled?
- What is the relationship of humans to the environment? For example, do humans control the environment, do the forces of nature control them, or do they seek harmony with their environment?
- What is the temporal focus of life? The first distinction made by anthropologists in this category refers to the primary temporal focus (past, present, or future) of a culture and the relationship between the three timeframes (e.g. does the past determine the present, is the future the most
important frame to orient one’s existence?). A second cultural distinction relating to time refers to the way people attend to activities at a point in time (e.g. is it best to focus on one thing at a time, should one engage in several things at once?) - What is the modality of human activity? For example, is the focus of human action on "being," "doing", or "becoming" (e.g. achieving tasks, on the development of the self, simply on spontaneity in living)?
- What is the relationship of humans to other humans? For example, is greater value placed on the individual than on the collectivity?
Each culture generates a constellation of answers to these questions, forming the basic assumptions shared by members of the culture and thereby providing the moral and cognitive underpinning for their worldview and behavior.
Antal, A. B & Friedman, V. (2003), Negotiating Reality as An Approach to Intercultural Competence
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