Elements of Cultural Systems
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What is culture?
Society
Culture
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A Script for Society
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Culture teaches rules, rituals, procedures
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Socialization
Culture reinforces values
Culture teaches relationships with others
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Communication styles
Perceptions
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What is culture?
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Holistic interrelationship of a group’s:
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Identity
Beliefs
Values
Activities
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Rules
Customs
Communication patterns
Institutions
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Elements of Culture
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History
Inner Core
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American history tells us who we are as a nation!
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American history informs what we value!
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Conflicts in American history influence the direction our nation has
taken!
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Recent events shape our national consciousness!
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Elements of Culture
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History
Identity
Inner Core
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Cultural Dimensions
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Individualism/Collectivism
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Masculine/Feminine
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Ties between individuals are loose or tight
Value assertiveness, competition, have rigid gender roles
/Value caring, relationships, have fluid gender roles
Power/Distance
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Power distributed more or less equally
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Cultural Dimensions
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Uncertainty Avoidance
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How much a culture avoids or tolerates uncertainty
Long-Term/Short-Term Orientation
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Thrift & perseverance/Respect for tradition and
saving ‘face’
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Elements of Culture
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History
Identity
Cultural Beliefs
Inner Core
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Social Status
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‘Everyday’ meaning: Prestige
Sociological meaning: Position a person
occupies
Status Set: All the statuses or positions a
person occupies
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Social Status
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Ascribed Status: Involuntary position
Achieved Status: Voluntary position you
earn or accomplish
Status provides guidelines for how we are
to act and feel
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Social Status
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Status symbols: Signs that identify a
status, allow others to recognize status
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Master Statuses: Cuts across other
statuses one holds, such as age, gender
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Roles
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Behaviors, obligations, privileges attached
to a status
Role exit
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Cultural Roles
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Age roles
Occupational roles
Friendship roles
Gender roles
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Values
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Long-enduring judgments about the worth
of an:
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Idea
Object
Person
Place
Practice
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Elements of Culture
Cultural Activities
Inner Core
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Technology and Material Culture
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Material objects
conceived and
manufactured by
humans
Created to fill a
shared need of
the society
Form, function,
meaning
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Artistic Expression
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Communication Patterns
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Culture is based on symbols
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Something to which we attach meaning
Meanings are understood & shared by
members of society
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Systems of symbols in a culture
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Language
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Elements of language name objects, people,
categories, abstractions
Essential to the development and
transmission of culture
Human knowledge expands, accumulates
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Systems of symbols in a culture
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Language
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Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis: We can know the
world only as far as our language permits
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Communication Styles
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How much of a message is conveyed by
spoken language?
How much of a message is conveyed by
the context?
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Communication Styles
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Low-Context Culture:
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Information is explicit
The message intended is mostly contained in
the words spoken
High-Context Culture:
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Information is implicit
Spoken words only contain a small part of
the message
Recipient must infer the rest by context
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Systems of symbols in a culture
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Rules and customs
Nonverbal communication
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Spatial relations (proxemics)
Rewards and gifts
Conceptions of time
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Conception of Time
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Monochronic
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One thing at a time
Time is linear
Polychronic
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Multiple things at once
Time is fluid
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