• 1.10: Culture-based Biases and Stereotypes

    We often base our decisions on preconceptions regarding ethnic, racial, cultural, or religious backgrounds. We can be quick to take offense when others cross our cultural norms – we paint the unwitting perpetrator as rude, disrespectful, or worse. For example, in some Asian cultures, it is considered disrespectful to look an elderly person "in the eye" when conversing with them. But many Americans feel that speakers who avert their eyes are hiding something or lack self-confidence.