Sociology
Chapter 2
Cultural Diversity
Preview
Section 1: The Meaning of Culture
Section 2: Cultural Variation
Chapter Wrap-Up
Sociology
Chapter 2
Section 1: The Meaning of Culture
Read to Discover
• What is the meaning of the term
culture, and how do material culture
and nonmaterial culture differ?
• What are the basic components of
culture?
Sociology
Chapter 2
Section 1: The Meaning of Culture
Culture consists of all the shared products
of human groups which include physical
objects, beliefs, values, and behaviors
shared by a group.
Sociology
Chapter 2
Section 1: The Meaning of Culture
Question
How do material culture and
nonmaterial culture differ?
Sociology
Chapter 2
Section 1: The Meaning of Culture
CULTURE
MATERIAL
CULTURE
NONMATERIAL
CULTURE
Sociology
Chapter 2
Section 1: The Meaning of Culture
CULTURE
All the shared products of
human groups
MATERIAL CULTURE
NONMATERIAL
CULTURE
Physical objects that
people create and use
Abstract human creations
Examples
Examples
Automobiles, books, buildings,
clothing, computers
Beliefs, family patterns, ideas,
language, political and
economic systems, rules
Sociology
Chapter 2
Section 1: The Meaning of Culture
Question
What are the basic components of
culture?
Sociology
Chapter 2
Section 1: The Meaning of Culture
Basic Components of Culture
• Technology—
physical objects and
rules for using them
• Symbols—anything
that represents
something else and
has a shared meaning
Sociology
Chapter 2
Section 1: The Meaning of Culture
Basic Components of Culture
• Language—the
organization of written or
spoken symbols into a
standardized system
Sociology
Basic Components of Culture
• Values—
shared beliefs
about what is
good or bad,
right or wrong
Chapter 2
Sociology
Basic Components of Culture
• Norms—shared rules of conduct
Chapter 2
Sociology
Chapter 2
Section 1: The Meaning of Culture
Levels of Culture
• Culture trait—individual tool, act, or belief that
is related to a particular situation or need
• Culture complex—cluster of interrelated traits
• Culture pattern—combination of a number of
culture complexes into an interrelated whole
Sociology
Chapter 2
Section 2: Cultural Variation
Read to Discover
• What are cultural universals, and why do
they exist?
• What do the terms ethnocentrism and
cultural relativism mean?
• What factors account for variations among
and within cultures?
Sociology
Chapter 2
Section 2: Cultural Variation
• Cultural universals—general features
common to all cultures, such as cooking,
dancing, and medicine
• ALL societies must develop certain
features to ensure their fulfillment.
Sociology
Chapter 2
Section 2: Cultural Variation
Question
What do the terms ethnocentrism and
cultural relativism mean?
Sociology
Chapter 2
Section 2: Cultural Variation
• Ethnocentrism—tendency to view one’s
own culture and group as superior
to other different cultures
Ethno = people, ethnic group
centrism= centered
Sociology
Chapter 2
Section 2: Cultural Variation
• Ethnocentrism
Sociology
Chapter 2
Section 2: Cultural Variation
• Cultural Relativism—belief that a culture
should be judged by its own standards
rather than by those of another culture
Sociology
Chapter 2
Section 2: Cultural Variation
Cultural
Relativism
Sociology
Chapter 2
Section 2: Cultural Variation
Cultural
Relativism
Sociology
Chapter 2
Section 2: Cultural Variation
Question
What factors account for variations
among and within cultures?
Sociology
Chapter 2
Section 2: Cultural Variation
• Subculture—group
within a society
which shares
values, norms, and
behaviors that are
not shared by the
entire population
Sociology
Chapter 2
Section 2: Cultural Variation
• Counterculture—
subculture which rejects
the major values, norms,
and practices of the
larger society and
replaces them with a
new set of cultural
values
Sociology
Chapter 2
Chapter Wrap-Up Understanding Main Ideas
1. List five examples of material culture and five examples of
nonmaterial culture.
2. What is language, and why is it such an important part of culture?
3. How do folkways, mores, and laws differ? List three examples of
each type of norm.
4. How do cultural traits, cultural complexes, and cultural patterns
differ?
5. How did Margaret Mead contribute to the study of cultures?
6. What is ethnocentrism? How does it differ from cultural relativism?
7. How are subcultures and countercultures related?