Culture
What is Culture?
Culture is all shared products of human
groups.
These include physical objects, beliefs,
values and behaviors
Material vs. Nonmaterial
Material Culture
Physical objects made and used by people
Ex. Cars, Books, Clothes
Nonmaterial Culture
Human ideological creations
Ex. Language, Religion, Government
Culture vs. Society
Culture deals with things (products and
ideas) people create
Society is the people themselves
Five Basic Components of Culture
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Symbols
Language
Values
Norms
Technology
Symbols
Anything that stands for something else;
shared meaning
Symbols are created by cultures and
taught to the young
Symbols change from culture to culture
Language
Organization of written or spoken symbols
into a standardized system
Language can vary from culture to culture
and even in separate regions within a
culture
Language is a great example of a cultural
symbol
Values
Shared beliefs about what is good or bad,
right or wrong, desirable or undesirable.
Values will determine both cultural
character and individual character
It dictates what materials or nonmaterial a
culture will produce
Norms
Shared rules of conduct that tell people
how to act in specific situations
(expectation of behavior)
Folkways: Norms with no moral
significance (getting to class on time)
Mores: Strong moral significance
(dishonesty, murder, theft)
Technology
Combination of a cultures objects and
rules
Different cultures rely on different tools to
combat their environment and you are
judged by your mastery of those tools
(computer skills are needed skills… but
being a hacker is not acceptable behavior)
Cultural Traits
A tool, act, or belief that is related to a
particular situation or need.
Examples: greetings, clothing, music, etc.
Cultural Complexities
Clusters of interrelated traits
Examples: Baseball… throwing, hitting,
pitching, fielding, running, sliding, rules,
etc.
Cultural Patterns
Combining cultural clusters to make an
interrelated whole
Example: American music, American food,
American Athletics
Cultural Variation
What do we all have in common?
Cultural universals: needs that all societies
must meet (cooking, medicine, language)
Dealing with Variation
Ethnocentrism: tendency to view ones own
culture as superior to others
Normal reaction, provides unity
If extreme, can create a loss of diversity
Dealing with Variations
Cultural Relativism: belief that cultures
should be judged by their own standards
Variations within Societies
Subculture: unique characteristics of
groups in society that share values,
norms, and behaviors (that are not shared
by the entire population)
Helps make society more interesting
Most subcultures present no threat to
society
Ex. German Village
Variations within Society
Counterculture: A group rejects the values,
norms, and beliefs of a larger society and
replaces them with a new set of cultural
patterns.
Can be detrimental (bad) to a society
Ex. Hippies