Chapter Three
Culture
What is Culture?
The values, beliefs, behavior, and material objects that form a
people’s way of life
Non Material culture the nonphysical ideas
that people have about
their culture, including
beliefs, values, rules,
norms, morals,
language, organizations,
and institutions.
.
Material culture –
tangible things created
by members of a society.
Only humans rely on
culture rather than
instinct to ensure
survival.
The Components of Culture
Although cultures vary, they all have five
common components:
(1) Symbols
(2) Language
(3) Values
(4) Beliefs
(5) Norms
Components of Culture
Symbols
Symbols – anything that carries a particular
meaning recognized by people who share
culture.
Not understanding the symbols of a culture leaves a
person feeling lost and isolated.
Symbolic meaning may also vary within a single
society.
Example: Tattoos
Components of Culture
Language
Language – a system of symbols that allows
people to communicate with one another.
Language allows for the continuity of culture.
Cultural transmission – the process by which one
generation passes culture to the next.
Every society transmits culture through speech.
The Sapir-Whorf Thesis
Languages are not just different sets of labels for
the same reality.
All languages fuse symbols with distinctive
emotions.
The Sapir-Whorf Thesis – people perceive the
world through the cultural lens of language.
Global Map 3-1
Language in Global Perspective
Global Map 3-1
Language in Global Perspective
Global Map 3-1
Language in Global Perspective
Components of Culture
Values and Beliefs
Values – culturally defined standards by which people
assess desirability, goodness, and beauty and that
serve as broad guidelines for social living.
Beliefs – specific statements that people hold to be
true.
Values are abstract standards of goodness.
Beliefs are particular matters that individuals consider true
or false.
Key Values of United States Culture
Equal Opportunity
Achievement and
Success
Material Comfort
Activity and Work
Practicality and
Efficiency
Progress
Science
Democracy and Free
Enterprise
Freedom
Racism and Group
Superiority
Components of Culture
Norms
Norms – rules and expectations by which a
society guides the behavior of its members.
Most important norms in a culture apply everywhere
and at all times.


Mores – norms that are widely observed and have great
moral significance.
Folkways – norms for routine, casual interaction.
Material Culture
Material culture – artifacts
Every culture includes a wide range of tangible
human creations.
A society’s artifacts reflect underlying culture.
Material culture also reflects a society’s technology
– knowledge that people use to make a way of life in
their surroundings.
Figure 3-1
Recorded Immigration to the United States
Cultural Diversity: Many Ways of Life
in One World
Cultural diversity can involve social class.
Many cultural patterns are readily accessible to
only some members of a society.
High culture – cultural patterns that distinguish
a society’s elite.
Popular culture – cultural patterns that are
widespread.
National Map 3-1
What’ll Ya Have?
Popular Beverages across the United States
National Map 3-1 (continued)
What’ll Ya Have?
Popular Beverages across the United States
Subcultures
Subculture – cultural patterns that set apart
some segment of society’s population.
Almost everyone participates in many
subcultures without having much commitment to
any of them.
What we view as the dominant culture – a set
of patterns favored by powerful segments of the
population.
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism – an educational program
recognizing the cultural diversity of the United
States and promoting the equality of all cultural
traditions.
Eurocentrism – the dominance of European
cultural patterns.
Afrocentrism – the dominance of African
cultural patterns.
National Map 3-2
Language Diversity across the United States
Counterculture
Counterculture – cultural patterns that strongly
oppose those widely accepted within a society.
In many cultures, counterculture is linked with
youth.
This is the outright rejection of conventional
ideas.
Cultural Change
Change in one
dimension of culture
usually sparks change in
another.
Cultural integration –
the close relationships
among various elements
of a cultural system.
Some elements of
culture change faster
than others – cultural
lag.
Cultural change may be
spurred by invention,
discovery, or diffusion.
Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism
Ethnocentrism – the
practice of judging
another culture by the
standards of one’s own
culture.
A particular culture is the
basis for everyone’s
reality.
Cultural Relativism –
the practice of evaluating
a culture by its own
standards.
It requires understanding
unfamiliar values and
norms.
Theoretical Analysis of Culture
The structural–functional paradigm depicts
culture as a complex strategy for meeting human
needs.
The social–conflict paradigm suggests that
many cultural traits function to the advantage of
some and the disadvantage of others.
Sociobiology explores ways in which human
biology affects how we create culture.
Culture and Human Freedom
Humans cannot live without culture.
Culture is largely a matter of habit, and limits our
choices.
Our society’s emphasis on competitive
achievement isolates us from one another.
Learning about cultural diversity prepares us to
use the freedom it offers.