Cultural Influences
Chp. 16
with Duane Weaver
Outline
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Culture and Culture Variability
Norms
Myths
Rituals
Sacred & Profane Consumption
Desacralization/Sacraliztion
Culture and Culture Variability
• Culture: Values, ethics, rituals, traditions,
material objects and services produced or valued
by the members of a society
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A cultural system consists of 3 functional areas:
Ecology
Adaptation to habitat
Social Structure
How social order is
maintained
Ideology
Shared ethos: moral and
aesthetic values
Culture Variability
Although every culture is different, four
dimensions account for most of the variance:
Power Distance
Uncertainty Avoidance
Power impact on relationships
How the society handles ambiguity
(religion?)
Masculinity/Femininity
Individualism
How a society defines gender roles
(examples?)
Collectivist or individualist focused
society?
Norms
Rules that govern what is right or wrong.
Norms
Explicitly decided
Enacted
Norms
Rules/guides
Customs
Culturally embedded
Crescive
Norms
Subtleties (suggested
appropriate behaviour)
- dressing, dining…
Taboos - punishable
Mores
Conventions
Myths
Myth: a story containing symbolic elements that expresses the
shared emotions and ideals of a culture
– Myths serve four interrelated functions in a culture
Metaphysical Explain the origins of existence
Emphasize that all components of the universe
Cosmological are part of a single picture
Sociological
Help maintain social order by authorizing a
social code
Psychological Provide models for personal conduct
Rituals
• Ritual
– A set of symbolic behaviours that occur in a
fixed sequence and tend to be repeated
periodically.
• (Let’s discuss Table 16-1 for examples)
• Ritual Artifacts
• Items used in the performance of rituals
– Wedding cakes, birthday candles…(others??)
Sacred and Profane Consumption
• Sacred Consumption
– Involves objects and events that are set apart from normal life
and are treated with some degree of respect or awe
• Profane Consumption
– Involves consumer objects and events that are ordinary or of
the everyday world
• Domains of Sacred Consumption
Sacred Places
Sacred People
Sacred Events
Desacralization & Sacralization
 Desacralization
 A sacred item or symbol is removed from its special place, or is
duplicated in mass quantities (Eiffel tower, Mona Lisa)
 It becomes profane as a result
 Sacralization
 When ordinary objects, events or people take on sacred meaning to
a culture or to specific groups within a culture
– The Stanley Cup (hockey)
– World Cup (soccer)
– Confucius
– Abraham Lincoln