society.”^2 A culture’s worldview focuses on the major assumptions about life that all
individuals, at one time or another, must deal with. Klopf and McCroskey note some
of those assumptions:
Worldview is a set of interrelated assumptions and beliefs about the nature of reality, the
organization of the Universe, the purposes of human life, God, and other philosophical
matters that are concerned with the concept of being. Worldview relates to a culture’s
orientation toward ontological matters or the nature of being and serves to explain how
and why things got to be as they are and why they continue that way.^3
From Klopf and McCroskey’s description you can reason that worldviews deal with
some of the following topics:- What is the purpose of life?
- Does law, chance, or“God”rule the world?
- What is the right way to live?
- What are the origins of the universe, and how did life begin?
- What happens when we die?
- What are the sources of knowledge?
- What is good and bad and right and wrong?
- What is human nature?
- Why do we exist just to die?
- How do we determine“truth”?
- What is our responsibility to other people?
The answers to these kinds of worldview questions can impact a culture’ssocial,eco-
nomic, and educational systems; destiny; degree of competition; work ethic; risk propen-
sity; gender relationships; level of innovation; perception of authority; and political life.^4
At the same time, worldviews deal with significant questions and provide direction for the
more practical features of living. That is,“In selecting its customs for day-to-day living,
even the little things, the society chooses those ways that accord with its thinking and
predilections—ways that fit its basic postulates as to the nature of things and what is desir-
able and what is not.”^5 As it applies to the basic orientation of this book, we are proposing
that knowing about a culture’s worldview will assist you in understanding how that cul-
ture perceives the world and interacts with other people in that world. Dana underscores
the connection between worldview and the study of intercultural communication:
Worldview provides some of the unexamined underpinnings for perception and the nature
of reality as experienced by individuals who share a common culture. The worldview of a
culture functions to make sense of life
experiences that might otherwise be con-
strued as chaotic, random, and meaningless.
Worldview is imposed by collective wisdom
as a basis for sanctioned actions that enable
survival and adaptation.^6
Manifestations of Worldview
To this point we have talked about how worldview and culture are linked in general
terms. A few specific examples will enable you to see both the perceptual and the
communicative components of worldview.REMEMBER THIS
A culture’s worldview is directly linked to how members of that
culture perceive the world and live in that world.104 CHAPTER 4•Worldview: Cultural Explanations of Life and Death
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