What is culture?
It consists of all the shared products of human
groups
Material Culture  physical objects created by
human groups, also known as artifacts
Nonmaterial Culture  abstract human creations
such as language, ideas, beliefs, rules, skills, family
patterns, work practices, and political and
economic systems
Culture vs. Society
Culture knowledge, values, customs, and physical
objects that are shared by members of a society
Material Culture & Non-material Culture
Society a specific territory inhabited by people
who share a common culture
Culture vs. Instinct
Why is culture more important than instinct in
determining human behavior?
Instincts  innate (unlearned) patterns of
behavior
Reflexes  automatic reaction to physical stimulus
Drives  impulse to reduce discomfort
Sociobiology
The study of the biological basis of human
behavior
How do sociobiologists view human behavior?
What might be some criticisms of sociobiology?
Is there a middle ground?
Components of Culture
Symbols
Language
Values
Norms (folkways, mores, taboos, laws)
Cultural Universals
Cultural Universals – general cultural traits that
exist in all cultures
Why do cultural universals exists?
Examples?
Breaking it down…
Food
Ethnic
Language
Tradition
Religion
Standard of Living
Entertainment
Government
Clothing
Education
Cultural Universals
Researchers have identified more than 70 traits in all cultures
Economy
Clothing, Food, Shelter, Communications,
Transportation, Business, Jobs, Services, Goods,
Technology, Tools, Trade
Institutions
Economy, Religion, Education, Government, Family
Arts
Folk Tales, Crafts, Music, Theater, Dance, Literature,
Art
Language
Environment
Recreation
Beliefs
Words, Expressions, Pronunciations, Alphabet,
Symbols
Communities, Geography, Geology, Habitat, Wildlife,
Climates, Resources
Games, Toys, Arts, Media, Holidays, Festivals
Values, Traditions, Ethnicity, Customs, Religions,
Morals
Symbols
What are symbols?
Symbols are something that stands for or represents
something else
Examples?
Language & Culture
The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
What can vocabulary tell you about a culture?
Does the hypothesis of linguistic relativity mean
we are prisoners of our language?
What other factors help us shape our perception of
reality?
Norms: The Rules We Live By
Norms  rules defining appropriate and
inappropriate behavior
William Graham Sumner stated that anything can
be considered appropriate when norms approve
of it
Taboo: Tattoo Video
Cultural Universals  general cultural traits that exist in all
cultures
Cultural Relativism  principle that an individual human's beliefs
and activities should be understood by others in terms of that
individual's own culture
Taboos  A norm that society holds so strongly that violating it
results in extreme disgust
Values & Beliefs
Beliefs  ideas about the nature of reality
Values  shared beliefs about what is good or
bad, right or wrong, desirable or undesirable
Why do beliefs matter in a society? Values?
Values & Beliefs
Do we have a set of values and/or beliefs in
America? Examples?
Ideal Culture vs.
Real Culture
Ideal Culture  Cultural guidelines that group
members claim to accept
Real Culture  Actual behavior of members of a
group
American Values:
Sociologist Robin Williams
Achievement and
success
Individualism
Material Comfort
Equality
Activity and work
Freedom
Practicality and
efficiency
Democracy
Science and rationality
Progress
Humanitarianism
Racism and group
superiority
American Values
Added in 1975
Recently Added Values
Education
Leisure
Religion
Physical Fitness (Health)
Romantic Love &
Monogamy
Self-Fulfillment
Environment
Safety/Personal Security
Norms Review
Rules defining appropriate and inappropriate
behavior
Specific cultural expectations for how to behave in a
given situation
They are the agreed-upon expectations and rules by
which the members of a culture behave
Norms can be broken down into FOUR categories
Folkways
Often referred to as "customs”
Standards of behavior that are socially approved but
not morally significant
They are norms for everyday behavior that people
follow for the sake of tradition or convenience
Breaking a folkway does not usually have serious
consequences
Mores
Strict norms that control moral and ethical
behavior
Mores are norms based on definitions of right
and wrong
Unlike folkways, mores are morally significant
People feel strongly about them and violating
them typically results in disapproval
Taboos
A norm that society holds so strongly that
violating it results in extreme disgust
Often times the violator of the taboo is
considered unfit to live in that society
Laws
A law is a norm that is written down and
enforced by an official law enforcement agency
Enforcing the Norm:
Sanctions
**See Social Control Notes**
Cultural Diversity
Social Categories  groupings of persons who
share social characteristics
Subculture – a group that is part of the dominant
culture but that differs from it in some important
respects
Counterculture – a subculture deliberately and
consciously opposed to certain central beliefs
or attitudes of the dominant culture
Ethnocentrism
Judging others in terms of one’s own cultural
standards
Examples?
Does ethnocentrism help or hurt society?
Cultural Universals
Cultural Universals – general cultural traits that
exist in all cultures
How are these cultural universals expressed?
Cultural particulars  the ways in which a culture
expresses universal traits
Why do cultural universals exists?
Cultural Universals
Researchers have identified more than 70 traits in all cultures
Economy
Clothing, Food, Shelter, Communications,
Transportation, Business, Jobs, Services, Goods,
Technology, Tools, Trade
Institutions
Economy, Religion, Education, Government, Family
Arts
Folk Tales, Crafts, Music, Theater, Dance, Literature,
Art
Language
Environment
Recreation
Beliefs
Words, Expressions, Pronunciations, Alphabet,
Symbols
Communities, Geography, Geology, Habitat, Wildlife,
Climates, Resources
Games, Toys, Arts, Media, Holidays, Festivals
Values, Traditions, Ethnicity, Customs, Religions,
Morals
Social Change
**See Social Change Notes**