CULTURE
CULTURE
• PHYSICAL AND BEHAVIORAL
ASPECTS OF SOCIETY SHARED
BY PEOPLE:
• NORMS
• VALUES
• KNOWLEDGE
• ARTIFACTS
• LANGUAGE
• SYMBOLS
• Way of life…
• Learned behavior
• Transmitted from generation to generation
• Glue that holds a group together
Culture
MATERIAL
CULTURE
• PHYSICAL
ARTIFACTS THAT
PEOPLE ATTACH
MEANING TO
• CAN BE SEEN AND
FELT
NONMATERIAL
CULTURE
• HUMAN CREATIONS
(VALUES, NORMS,
RITES)
• INTANGIBLES
TWO ASPECTS OF CULTURE
CULTURE
MATERIAL
 Computers
 Cars
 Clothes
 Buildings
 Jewelry
 Books
NON
MATERIAL






Ideas
Rules
Skills
Beliefs
Language
Economic
System
• WHICH GROUP CHANGES
THE FASTEST?
• HOW DOES CULTURE
CHANGE?
• DOES A CULTURE INVENT
MORE THAN IT BORROWS?
MATERIAL/NONMATERIAL
WHEN THE MATERIAL CULTURE
DEVELOPS FASTER THAN THE
NONMATERIAL CULTURE
CULTURE LAG
•
•
•
•
Disconnect between material and non-material culture
Material moving at a faster rate than non-material aspects
Causing anxiety, stress, conflict
Computer technology & culture lag
• High rates of depression among Americans in a hyper
technological society
Ogburn—Cultural Lag
• Language—verbal & nonverbal communication
• Norms—rules for behavior
(how appropriately to
behave?)
• Values—Collective concepts
of right/wrong, desirability,
etc
• Sanctions—
reward/punishment to
enforce norms
Elements of culture
GENERAL IDEA THAT PEOPLE SHARE ABOUT
WHAT IS GOOD OR BAD DESIRABLE,
NONDESIRABLE
VALUE
AMERICAN CORE VALUES
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
ACHIEVEMENT AND SUCCESS
COMPETITIVENESS
HUMANITARIANISM
EQUALITY
FREEDOM
CONFORMITY
NATIONALISM
INDIVIDUALITY
RACIAL AND ETHNIC GROUP
SUPERIORITY
• GUIDELINE FOR ACTION
• EXPLICIT (WRITTEN
LAWS/BIBLICAL
COMMANDMENTS)
• UNSPOKEN
• SMOKING (1950s COMPARED
TO TODAY)
NORMS
• PEOPLE OBEY THEM
WITHOUT GIVING MUCH
THOUGHT TO THE MATTER
• SIMPLY EVERYDAY HABITS
COVERING YOUR MOUTH
WHEN YOU YAWN
FOLKWAYS
• NORMS PEOPLE CONSIDER
VITAL TO THEIR WELL BEING
AND TO THEIR MOST
CHERISHED VALUES
• PEOPLE WHO VIOLATE ARE
CONSIDERED TO BE UNFIT FOR
SOCIETY
• PROHIBITIONS OF INCEST,
CHILD ABUSE, AND CANNIBALISM
MORES
• Are mores so strongly held that their violation is
considered to be extremely offensive
Taboos
• RULES ENACTED BY A
POLITICAL BODY AND
ENFORCED BY THE POWER
OF THE STATE
• ENFORCED BY THE POLICE,
MILITARY
LAWS
• Language is defined as a set of symbols that express
ideas and enable people to think and communicate with
one another
• Used to express feelings about past and future
• Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis- language not only expresses our
thoughts and perceptions, it also influences our perceptions
of reality
• Language can influence perceptions of race for example
Language
Impact of Language
• HOW COMMUNICATION
BETWEEN CULTURES IS
AFFECTED BY ONE’S
OWN CULTURE
• SYMBOLS
(CROSS/FLAGS)
• GESTURES
(NONVERBAL)
• LANGUAGE (GERMAN
SPEAKING ENGLISH)
CULTURAL TRANSMISSION
(cultural diffusion)
• Is culture a dividing
concept or unifying
concept?
• Common traits, features
found in most cultures
•
•
•
•
Religions
Family
Recreation
Education
Cultural Universals-Murdock
• Subculture—segments of society believe distinctive
norms, values, etc.
• Examples
• Counter-culture—segments of society rejects basic
values, values
• Examples
Cultural variations…
• Culture shock
• Feeling of disorientation, discomfort, and fearful facing
cultural variations
Cultural Variation…
• Ethnocentrism—judging/seeing other culture from one’s
own experience
• Relativism—judging each culture in its own terms (Weber’s
value neutrality)
• Xenocentrism—judging one’s own culture as inferior
Attitudes
toward
Variations…
THE TENDENCY TO VIEW ONE’S
OWN CULTURAL PATTERNS AS
GOOD AND RIGHT AND THOSE OF
OTHERS AS STRANGE OR EVEN
IMMORAL
ETHNOCENTRISM
• SOMETHING IS ONLY
UNDERSTOOD WITHIN THE
BOUNDRIES OF ITS OWN
CULTURE
• WHICH MESSAGES ARE
CULTURE BOUND AND IN
ANOTHER CULTURE
MIGHT HAVE A DIFFERENT
MEANING OR NONE AT
ALL?
CULTURE BOUND
• Refers to societies with very similar social, religious, and
political backgrounds
Cultural Homogenity
• Refers to societies with very diverse components (like
America)
Cultural Heterogeneity
• How has the Internet contributed to American culture?
• How has the Internet contributed to the dysfunction of
American culture?
Interview with an
Immigrant Student
Decoding Culture
Cafeteria and Class
observations