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This chapter examines early research conducted by anthropologists to explain why intercultural scholars often assume that each culture has a set of characteristics shared by all members equally (even though much research has demonstrated that cultures are not typically homogeneous); why they often focus only on psychological characteristics (even though there are many other aspects of culture that could be the emphasis of study); and why they often assume that it is adequate to interview members of a culture living outside their culture as typical representatives of that culture (even though typical members of a culture stay within it, and do not choose to live elsewhere. It concludes that we must be willing to spend at least a little time examining the history of our assumptions, and how these have developed over time. Studying the past reveals why we study what we do, and why we …