The cultural values test answers the question: Are your beliefs really your own? Understanding our assumptions and judgments is essential to maintaining a healthy mindset.
We can adopt unhealthy cultural values without realizing it. They are embedded in the programming of propaganda that permeates our social media. These assumptions often operate silently in the background of your thinking. These scripts influence how you understand yourself. They influence how you interpret events and how you treat others.
The cultural values test is a cornerstone tool for self-development. It helps uncover unhealthy thinking scripts in our beliefs and cultural values. This assessment brings these assumptions into conscious awareness. This awareness gives us the ability to replace them with healthier alternatives.
This self-assessment is not about labeling or shaming. It is a tool for self-reflection, critical thinking, and inner development. Examining how tradition, belief, and culture influence your values gives you new insight. This begins the process of improving your mind. It’s the first step in deeper inner work. This path of spiritual growth leads to emotional maturity and intellectual integrity.
Inner Work Gate Notice:
The practices used may increase discomfort before resolution. The methods and training pathways described here involve examining beliefs, cultural values, identity patterns, emotional conditioning, and unconscious habits. Use the tools for emotional stability as necessary when engaging in deeper inner work practices.
How the cultural values test works
Each question of the cultural values test presents two options.
Option A reflects the cultural values of a more rigid traditional Western perspective.
Option B reflects the cultural values of a more open, flexible, and evidence-based perspective.
- Option A = –10 points
- Option B = +10 points
Your answers create both a total score and domain-specific scores. This information can be used as a guide for correcting beliefs and values.
The cultural values test is divided into five domains. In this way, you can see what area of your cultural values is health and which may need some work.
- Identity and belonging
- Belief formation and reasoning
- Morality, law and social order
- Authority, power and harm
- Spiritual personal growth
Domain 1 — identity and belonging
Identity and belonging explores how you define family, community, and cultural identity. It reveals how you prioritize belonging, shared beliefs, tradition, and familiar groups. A high score reflects comfort with diversity and independent identity formation. A low score suggests inherited identity patterns or discomfort with unfamiliar cultures.
This part of the cultural values test helps you see where your sense of identity comes from.
| Question | Option A | Option B |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shared religious beliefs define my family. | My family is defined by ancestry or shared household. |
| 2 | A family should consist of a man and a woman. | A family can consist of any mix of genders. |
| 3 | Men should lead the family. | Men and women should be equal partners. |
| 4 | I follow the religion passed down through my family. | I am spiritual or nonreligious by choice. |
| 5 | I’m most comfortable with people who share my background and beliefs. | I enjoy engaging with diverse people and beliefs. |
| 6 | My beliefs come from family or culture. | I formed my beliefs independently. |
Domain 2 — belief formation and reasoning
Belief formation and reasoning examines how you form beliefs and evaluate information. It shows whether your thinking is rigid and absolute or flexible and evidence-based. A high score reflects openness to new information and willingness to revise beliefs. A low score indicates reliance on authority, tradition, or unexamined assumptions.
This section of the cultural values test shows how you handle new information.
| Question | Option A | Option B |
|---|---|---|
| 7 | My beliefs are correct and unchangeable. | I’m open to changing my beliefs based on evidence. |
| 8 | I rely on religious and social media sources. | I question religious and media information critically. |
| 9 | Religious teachings guide my decisions. | I make decisions based on evidence and reasoning. |
| 10 | Only my religion holds the whole truth. | Many religions may hold partial or symbolic truths. |
| 11 | Faith only has meaning when practiced in a religious group. | Spirituality can be deeply personal and individual. |
| 12 | My view of the afterlife is based on religion. | My afterlife beliefs are personal and differ from religion. |
Domain 3 — morality, law and social order
Morality, law and social order focuses on beliefs about social structure and values. It shows what values you believe should guide public policy. It highlights whether you see religion as the foundation of morality and law. It shows how you prioritize fairness, reason, and other secular principles. A high score reflects inclusive ethics. A low score suggests moral frameworks tied tightly to religious doctrine.
This part of the cultural values test helps you see what guides your moral choices.
| Question | Option A | Option B |
|---|---|---|
| 13 | Religion is necessary for living a moral life. | Morality does not require religion. |
| 14 | Laws should be based on religious texts. | Laws should be based on fairness and reason. |
| 15 | Religion improves the world. | Religion causes many societal problems. |
| 16 | I fear losing my right to religious expression. | Religion should not influence public policy. |
| 17 | Religion should influence government and public life. | The government should remain secular. |
Domain 4 — authority, power and harm
Authority, power and harm reveals how you relate to authority and conflict. It examines whether you trust leaders without question. It indicates if you see violence as acceptable in defense of beliefs. A high score reflects autonomy and nonviolence. A low score indicates susceptibility to authoritarian influence or harmful ideological rigidity.
This section of the cultural values test shows how you respond to authority and conflict.
| Question | Option A | Option B |
|---|---|---|
| 18 | I trust the advice of religious or spiritual leaders. | I am skeptical of religious authority. |
| 19 | Defending religious beliefs with violence is acceptable. | Violence is never justified by religion. |
Domain 5 — spiritual personal growth
Spiritual and personal growth reflects your openness to exploring new ideas. It indicates your level of curiousity and acceptance of practices for inner development. It shows to what extent you rely on religious tradition. It also shows to what extent you embrace a wider range of spiritual options. A high score reflects curiosity and exploration. In contrast, a low score suggests spiritual confinement within inherited structures.
This part of the cultural values test helps you understand your spiritual curiosity.
| Question | Option A | Option B |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | Meditation, yoga, and similar practices are spiritually dangerous. | Mind-body practices are healthy and beneficial. |
| 21 | I prefer studying my religious texts. | I seek knowledge beyond my religious comfort zone. |
| 22 | Religion teaches me everything I need to know about life. | I explore many tools and ideas to improve my life. |
| 23 | I prefer religious devotion and leaders. | I explore spiritual tools like meditation or mindfulness. |
Scoring and interpreting your results
To score the test, assign –10 points for each Option A answer and +10 points for each Option B answer. Then add up your points across all 23 questions to get your total score. You can also calculate separate scores for each domain.
Total score interpretation
- +230 → Freethinker (open, evidence-based worldview)
- Around 0 → Mixed values (some biases, some openness)
- –190 or lower → Strong traditional/religious bias
- –230 → Religious extremism (high risk of harmful bias)
Action plan — how to grow in each domain
Identity and belonging
A low score in this domain suggests your sense of identity may be tightly tied to inherited beliefs or familiar cultural groups. You can explore how cultural conditioning shapes belonging.
➡ For More See: Questioning the Cultural Narrative: The Invisible Operating System
- Engage with people from different backgrounds and beliefs.
- Reflect on how family traditions shaped your sense of identity.
- Practice perspective-taking to understand unfamiliar viewpoints.
- Notice when comfort zones limit your social curiosity.
Belief formation and reasoning
A negative score here suggests rigid beliefs or reliance on narrow information sources. Strengthen your reasoning by exploring how logic supports spiritual exploration.
➡ For More See:: Why logical reasoning is essential in spiritual exploration.
- Ask what evidence supports your beliefs.
- Seek out opposing viewpoints and sit with the discomfort they bring.
- Learn how bias distorts thinking and decision-making.
- Use reflective journaling to examine belief origins.
Morality, law and social order
If your score is strongly negative, you may see religion as the primary foundation for law and morality. Consider alternative ethical foundations.
➡ For More See: Choosing Secular Humanism or Western Religion
- Reflect on how laws affect people who do not share your beliefs.
- Evaluate moral questions using fairness and harm reduction.
- Study how secular ethics support diverse societies.
- Examine how fear-based narratives influence moral judgment.
Authority, power, and harm
A negative score may indicate overreliance on authority or tolerance for harmful behavior in the name of belief. Learn how belief systems self-correct and support accepted cultural values.
➡ For More See: The Self-Correction Mechanism: Belief Safeguard to Avoid Extremism
- Practice questioning authority respectfully.
- Examine leadership motives and power dynamics.
- Commit to nonviolence as a core value.
- Reflect on how fear influences obedience.
Spiritual and personal growth
If your score is low, you may rely solely on traditional religious practices and avoid alternative tools for inner work. Explore different spiritual path options.
➡ For More See: Exploring Spiritual Path Options: How to Align with Healthy Values
- Experiment with meditation, breathwork, or nature-based reflection.
- Explore multiple spiritual traditions with curiosity.
- Develop autonomy in spiritual decision-making.
- Treat your spiritual journey as an evolving process.
Final thoughts
Traditions connect us to the past and can enrich our lives, but some traditions also carry harmful biases and prejudices. The cultural values test helps you identify which values are unhealthy. It shows which may limit your ability to learn, empathize, and coexist peacefully. By challenging assumptions, you cultivate a more positive worldview.
This process can be emotionally intense because traditions are often linked to identity and belonging. The purpose is not to reject every inherited value. It is to examine each belief consciously and decide whether it still deserves a place in your life.
After reviewing your results, return to the question that began this test: Are your beliefs really your own, or are you still carrying beliefs you were taught but never chose?
References
- The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion, Jonathan Haidt.
- Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman.
- The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Eric Hoffer.
- Escape from Freedom, Erich Fromm.
- Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism, Robert Jay Lifton.
- A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance, Leon Festinger.
- The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies, Michael Shermer.
- Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time, Michael Shermer.
- The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, Carl Sagan.
- The Open Society and Its Enemies, Karl Popper.
- An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding, David Hume.
- Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Robert B. Cialdini.
- Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media, Edward S. Herman & Noam Chomsky.
- Propaganda, Edward Bernays.
- The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Thomas S. Kuhn.
About this project
The Seeker Project 4 Spiritual Exploration (SP4SE) is a project of Americans In Alliance. The mission of SP4SE is spiritual education. The mission of Americans In Alliance is environmental conservancy. Click the links below to learn more and support our efforts.