Anthropology 250
Issues in Anthropology
Culture Change Principles
Society
Definition
A group of people who live according to a
shared culture
Social refers to interactions between two or
more people
Socialization occurs when you learn the
behavior patterns of your group
Culture
Definition
The abstract, learned, shared
rules/patterns/standards for generating
behavior and interpreting experience.
Enculturation is learning the culture you grow
up in.
Acculturation is learning a culture different from
that in which you grew up.
The Nature of Culture
Culture does not exist outside of people’s heads
Each person has his or her own version of a culture
based on life experience and the roles he or she
knows (age, gender, professional, social class,
ethnicity, etc)
No one person knows the entirety of a culture
Culture is a composite of all the rules for all the roles
that anyone plays in a given society
The Fluid Nature of Culture
Culture change occurs in one of two ways
1. A new behavior pattern spreads through a group,
followed by a change in the rules and standards to
conform with the new behavior pattern (eg. the
sexual revolution of the 1960’s)
2. A change in the conscious rules of the society,
followed by a change in behavior patterns (eg. the
civil rights movement in the 1950’s and 1960’s)
Change in behavior patterns and changes in rules do
not usually occur simultaneously
Aspects of Culture Change
• Source
• Motivation
• Internal Source =
invention or discovery
• Internal Motivation =
cultural evolution
• External Source =
diffusion
• External Motivation =
conquest or colonialism
Types of Culture Change
Group Change
• Evolution = change within a
society that results when
cultural changes are
voluntarily integrated into
the daily life of the society
• Diffusion = when a society
borrows a culture trait from
another society
• Syncretism = the blending of
culture traits from two
distinct cultures
Individual Change
• Acculturation = when an
individual learns a culture in
addition to the one in which
he/she is raised
• Assimilation = acculturation
that has progressed to the
point that the individual is
indistinguishable from
members of the new society
• Biculturalism = when an
individual is fluent in two
cultures and can switch at will
from one to the other
Cultural Evolution
• This is the sort of natural change that occurs
in all societies, as people adjust their cultures
to fit new environmental conditions and
situations. Individuals try out new strategies
and/or beliefs, and the rest of the society
decides whether the new practice is working
well. When a new practice is adopted by a
significant segment of the society, then
culture change has occurred.
Diffusion
• This occurs when a culture trait is borrowed
by a society in which it did not develop. For
example, Coke and Pepsi are found
throughout the world in literally hundreds of
societies. These products have diffused
around the world.
Syncretism
• Syncretism occurs when aspects of two
cultures are blended into a single culture trait.
A good example of this is Mexican food as it is
served in Southern California. Taco Bell and El
Torito are not authentic Mexican food. They
are a blending of Mexican and American
ingredients cooked in Mexican styles that have
been adapted to American tastes.
Acculturation
• This is what occurs when individuals or groups
migrate to an new country or culture. They must
adjust to the new cultural context in which they
find themselves. Immigrants tend to acculturate
at different rates depending on the part of culture
they need to change, and the number of
immigrants from their home culture that are
living in the new society. Religion is usually one of
the last aspects of culture to be changed.
Assimilation
• This is what happens when individuals acculturate
to a new culture and become so fully immersed
that they are indistinguishable from native
members of the new society into which they have
moved. Research shows that it takes three
generations for immigrants to fully assimilate to a
new culture. The actual immigrants themselves
have little chance of assimilation. It is their
grandchildren who will be fully assimilated.
Biculturalism
• Biculturalism occurs when an individual knows
two cultures extremely well, and can act as a
native in either culture. Bicultural individuals
frequently switch back and forth from one
culture to another, depending on the social
context in which they find themselves.
Types of Change Movements
Massive change in entire culture
Short time period
May be new culture or return to past traditions
Internally Motivated
Externally Motivated
1. Revolution = violent
overthrow of existing
leadership
1. Conquest = forced massive
change after war
2. Colonization = occupation
2. Millenial Movement =
with goal of economic
secular with political leader
exploitation
2. Revitalization = religious
with religious prophet as
leader
Study Guide
Society
Social
Socialization
Culture
Enculturation
Behavior patterns
Cultural rules
Internal source
External source
Internal motivation
External motivation
Evolution
Diffusion
Syncretism
Acculturation
Biculturalism
Assimilation
Revolution
Millenial movement
Revitalization movement
Conquest
Colonization