Culture!
Culture as a way of life
A combination of the material and
nonmaterial worlds
 Importance of meanings
 Created in social interaction
 Multiple levels of analysis
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Genetics and Culture
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Genetics loads the gun, environment
pulls the trigger
• Culture
• Social
• Physical Environment
• Biological
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
Linguistic relativity
 Language shapes our reality
 Different languages and cultures
makes for different realities
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Nonverbal Communication
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Nonverbal communication: Use of
gestures, facial expressions, and
other visual images to communicate
• Learned
• Differs by cultures
• Symbols: gestures,
objects, and words
that form basis of
human communication
Key Cultural vocabulary
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Norms define appropriate and
inappropriate behavior
• Folkways (lack moral component)
• Mores (moral)
• Laws (official)
• Formal and informal sanctions
Cultural values in the U.S.
(Robin Williams)
Equal opportunity for success vs.
fate
 Material comfort vs. spiritual comfort
 Activity and Work vs. reflection
 Science vs. spirituality
 Democracy vs. Socialism
 Freedom and Individuality vs.
Collectivity
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Subcultures and Counterculture
Subculture still part of dominant
culture
 Counterculture opposed to dominant
culture
 Examples of acceptance and
resistance?
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Ethnocentrism and Cultural
Relativity
Judging others by your own cultural
standards vs. by their own larger
cultural context
 Culture shock
 War on Terrorism?
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Changing society
Agriculture
 Industrialization
 Post-industrial society?
 Virtual culture
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Post-Industrial society?
Shift toward service industry
 White collar instead of blue
 Power of knowledge
 Technology is controlled?
 Intellectual technology and
rationality
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Global Culture War
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Culture wars: Polarization of
society
over controversial cultural elements
• In 1990s, referred to political debates
over abortion, religious expression,
gun control, and sexual orientation
• After U.S. established military presence
in Iraq and Afghanistan, foreign
opinion of U.S. became quite negative
Culture and the Dominant
Ideology
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Dominant ideology: Set of cultural
beliefs and practices that help
maintain powerful interests,
including:
• Social interests
• Economic interests
• Political interests
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Conflict perspective: dominant
ideology has major social significance
Dominant ideologies or “isms”
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Sexism
Racism
Ageism
Sexual Orientation
Physical ability
Religion
Language
Nationalism
Classism
Body type
Mental health
Medical conditions
Culture/Ethnicity
Healthy?
Conformism?
Geert Hofstede’s
five cultural dimensions
" Culture is more often a source of
conflict than of synergy. Cultural
differences are a nuisance at best and
often a disaster."
Individualism (IND)
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The degree to which individuals are integrated into
groups
High individualism:
• Ties between individuals are loose
• Everyone is expected to look after him/herself, but has
the freedom to make her/his own life decisions in return
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Low individualism (i.e., collectivism):
• People from birth onwards are integrated into strong,
cohesive in-groups
• The groups continue protecting individuals throughout
life in exchange for unquestioning loyalty
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Where do you think America falls on this dimension?
America on a 0-100 scale: 91 (highest of 56
countries studied by the Hofstede research group)
Power distance (PDI)
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The extent to which the less powerful members of society
accept and expect that power is distributed unequally
High power distance:
• Clear-cut status differences that are accepted by members of
society as natural and normal
• Low degree of social mobility (people don’t readily change
their status or station, nor expect they can or should do so)
• High degree of deference to authority figures
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Low power distance:
• Fluid or shifting status differences; a social ethic of equality
• High degree of social mobility (people easily change their
status or station, or at least believe and expect that they can)
• Low degree of deference to authority figures
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Where do you think America falls on this dimension?
America on a 0-100 scale: 40
Uncertainty avoidance (UAV)
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Deals with a society's tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity, its
orientation to truth, and its emphasis on rules and safety
High uncertainty avoidance:
• Many rules that are strictly observed, with an emphasis on social
conformity (everyone should think and act alike)
• The cultural belief that “there is only one truth and we have it”; a more
philosophically monolithic culture in which the cultural framework is rarely
questioned
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Low uncertainty avoidance:
• Few rules with tolerance for slack observance, with an emphasis on
personal autonomy (a diversity of perspectives and lifestyles)
• Many overlapping or competing truths that may be seen as relative or as
an “ideological smorgasbord”; a more philosophically diverse culture where
questioning is expected or encouraged
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Where do you think America falls on this dimension?
America on a 0-100 scale: 46
Long-term orientation (LTO)
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Refers to the time frame that governs most people’s
lives (individually and in groups)
High long-term orientation:
• Focus on sacrificing present-day rewards for the sake of
maximizing future gains
• Patient, willing to play a “long game” to win over the
course of many years or many generations
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Low long-term orientation:
• Focus on immediate, tangible payoffs and gaining quick
rewards in the here and now
• Impatient, seeking immediate gratification or the “quick
win” in the short term
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Where do you think America falls on this dimension?
America on a 0-100 scale: 29
Masculinity (MAS)
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Refers to the extent to which culturally expected
behaviors are gender-specific, and the extent to which
masculine roles and attitudes are seen as more
culturally favored
High masculinity:
• Clear-cut differences in gender roles
• Emphasis on competitiveness, toughness, directness,
achievement, being results-minded
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Low masculinity:
• Minimal differences in gender roles
• Emphasis on cooperation, tenderness, tact, affiliation,
being relationship-minded
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Where do you think America falls on this dimension?
America on a 0-100 scale: 62
Can’t we all just get along?
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Cultural Universals (Functionalism)
• Sports
• Cooking
• Education
• Funeral rites
• Family
• Government
• Housing
• Religious rituals