Cultural Diversity, Cultural Adaptation and Cultural Change

I. What is culture?

A. Culture - all of the shared products of human groups - - products people create

1. Material culture – physical objects that people create (cars, clothes, books, buildings)

2. Nonmaterial culture – abstract human creations (language, ideas, beliefs, rules, skills, family patterns)

B. Society – group of mutually interdependent people who have organized in such a way as to share a common culture and feeling of unity - - people

II. Components of Culture

A. Physical objectsB. Symbols – anything that stands for

something elseEx: Can be a word, gesture, image, sound, physical object, event or element of the natural world

C. Language – organization of written or spoken symbols into a standardized system

D. Values – shared beliefs about what is good or bad or right or wrong

E. Norms – shared rules of conduct that tell people how to act in specific situations

1. Are expectations for behavior, not actual behavior

2. Folkways – norms w/no great moral significance attached (shake hands when you’re introduced to someone)

3. Mores – have moral significance attached (killing someone)

COUNTRY

CUSTOM

Great Britain

Appointments are essential. You may be ten minutes late but not ten minutes early.

Greece Be careful not to praise a specific object too enthusiastically or the host may insist on giving it to you.

Libya If you are invited to a Libyan home for dinner, only men will be present. Take a gift for the host but not for his wife.

Senegal Never eat food with the left hand as this is considered offensive.

Zambia Avoid direct eye contact w/members of the opposite sex – it may suggest romantic overtures.

Saudi Arabia

It is an insult to sit in such a way as to face your host w/the soles of your shoes showing. Do not place your feet on a desk, table or chair.

COUNTRY

CUSTOM

Oman If an Arab businessman takes your hand and holds it as you walk, do not be alarmed. He means it only as a sign of friendship.

China A visit to a Chinese home is rare – unless the government has given prior approval.

Japan If you are offered a gift, thank the person and wait for one or two more offers before accepting it.

South Korea

Men go through doors first. Women help men with their coats.

III. Examining culture

A. Culture is dynamic (continually changing) rather than static

B. Cultural trait – individual tool, act or belief related to a particular situation or need

Ex: Using a fork to eat, how we greet people

C. Cultural complex – cluster of interrelated traits

Ex: football – measuring chain, football, cleats, helmets, first-aid kits; belief that players should be good sports, penalties for rule violations

D. Culture pattern – combination of a number of cultural complexes into an interrelated wholeEx: basketball, softball, swimming, tennis combine to form American athletic pattern

IV. Cultural variation

A. Cultural universals – features common to all cultures

Ex: cooking, body adornment, religion, sports, forms of greeting, medicine, family

B. Ethnocentrism- tendency to view one’s own culture and group as superior

C. Cultural relativism – belief that cultures should be judged by their own standards

D.Variation within societies1. Subculture – characteristics

(values, norms, behaviors) shared by a group w/in society that aren’t shared by the entire population

2. Counterculture – subcultural practices consciously intended to challenge the values of the larger society

V. The American Value System

A.Traditional American values1. Personal achievement2. Work3. Morality and humanitarianism4. Efficiency and practicality5. Progress and material comfort6. Equality and democracy7. Freedom

American Value System –cont-

B. New value: Self-fulfillment – commitment to the full development of one’s personality, talents and potential

1. Negative effectsa. Sociologist Christopher Lasch – personality

disorder called narcissism – extreme self-centeredness

b. Daniel Bell – weakens values of hard work and moderation and threatens stability of the capitalism

c. Amitai Etzioni – hurts family life and educational system

American Value System –cont-

2. Positive effectsa. Daniel Yankelovich – emphasis on

self-improvement and a movement away from satisfaction based on material gain

VI. Social control

A.Social control – enforcing of norms

B.Sanctions – rewards or punishments used to enforce conformity to norms

1. Positive sanctions – rewards

Social Control –cont-

2. Negative sanctions – punishment or threat of punishment

3. Formal sanctions – reward or punishment given by some formal organization (govt, school, police)

4. Informal sanctions – spontaneous expression of approval or disapproval by an individual or group Standing ovation, compliments, frowns,

gossip

VII.Social Change

A.Sources of social change1. Social movement – long-term conscious

effort to promote or prevent social change

Prohibition, civil rights, gay rights2. Technology (through discovery or

invention)3. Population

Population increase/decrease, movement or age change

4.Diffusion – process of spreading culture traits from one society to another

5.Physical environment6.War and conquest

Social Change –cont-

B.Resistance to change1. Ethnocentrism2. Cultural lag – situation when

some aspects of culture change less rapidly than other aspects of the same culture

3. Vested interests