The assumptions a group of people have regarding the world and the people in it are an example of the ______ of a culture.

• A. Underlying assumptions
• B. Norms
• C. Artifacts
• D. Surface beliefs

Answer: (A)

Assumptions about how the world works are deep-seated beliefs that shape how people interpret events and interact with others. These are not just outward rules but the unspoken worldview that guides perception and behavior, often taken for granted and operating below the level of conscious awareness. In a culture, such hidden beliefs about people, time, causality, and truth organize what people expect and how they act even before any explicit statement is made.

That’s why they’re described as underlying assumptions—they lie beneath surface expressions like stated beliefs or visible norms and drive much of what members do, often more powerfully than what is openly stated. Norms govern expected behavior, artifacts are the tangible cultural items, and surface beliefs are the beliefs people can articulate openly. The deep, tacit worldview that underpins those surface expressions is the underlying assumption.