Ethnocentrism influences how we perceive other cultures by:

• A. Accepting all cultural differences without critique.
• B. Abandoning our own values entirely.
• C. Ignoring any cross-cultural interaction.
• D. Judging the behavior of people in other cultures by the values and assumptions of our own.

Answer: (D)

The idea being tested is ethnocentrism: evaluating other cultures by the standards and values of one’s own culture. This mindset shapes how we see differences because our own norms become the default against which we measure everything unfamiliar. When we judge another culture’s practices using our values, we interpret them through that biased lens, often labeling them as right or wrong, superior or inferior, not based on their own context but on our assumptions. That’s why the correct choice describes judging behavior by our own values and assumptions—the hallmark of ethnocentric perception.

Other ways people might approach cross-cultural differences—accepting differences without critique, abandoning one’s own values, or ignoring cross-cultural interaction—don’t capture the biased evaluation at the heart of ethnocentrism.