Chapter 2

Culture

What is Culture?

• Beliefs, values, behavior, and material objects that, together, form a people’s way of life

• Material culture – physical or technological aspects of our daily lives

• Nonmaterial culture - beliefs

Culture

• Cultural universals – general practices found in every culture including courtship, family, language, religion, and sex restrictions

• Cultural diffusion – process by which a cultural item spreads from group to group

• Culture shock – personal disorientation when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life

What is the purpose of culture?

1. Our major mode of adaptation

2. Sets limits on behavior and guides us along predictable paths

• Becomes internalized – Doxa – things so deeply internalized that they

come to be seen as “natural”

Characteristics of Culture

• Culture is shared

• Culture is learned

- Cultural transmission – passing of cultural traits from one generation to the next

Characteristics of Culture

• Culture is based on symbols• Symbol – anything that carries a particular

meaning recognized by people who share culture• Language – a system of symbols that allows

people to communicate with each other- Language is our most important symbolic system- Ensures the continuity of culture- Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis – people perceive the world through the cultural lens of language

Characteristics of Culture

• Culture is integrated• Cannot change one element without impacting

another– Cultural integration – close relationship among various

elements of a cultural system– Cultural lag – period of maladjustment when an

element of culture changes and disrupts a system– Change caused by

• Invention – creating new elements• Discovery – understanding an idea not fully understood before• Diffusion – spread of cultural traits

Non Material Culture

• Values – culturally defined standards which serve as broad guidelines for social living

• Beliefs – specific statements which people hold to be true

Non Material Culture

• Norms – rules and expectations by which society guides the behavior of its members

• Mores – norms that are widely observed and have great moral significance

• Folkways – norms for routine, casual interaction

Cultural Diversity

• High culture – cultural patterns that distinguish a society’s elite

• Popular culture – cultural patterns that are widespread among a society’s population

• Subcultures – cultural patterns that distinguish some segment of a society’s population

Cultural Diversity

• Counterculture – cultural patterns that strongly oppose those widely accepted in society

• Multiculturalism – an educational program recognizing the cultural diversity of the U.S. and promoting the equality of all cultural traditions

Cultural Diversity

• Ethnocentrism – the practice of judging another culture by the standards of one’s own culture

• Cultural relativism – the practice of judging a culture by its own standards

Homework Assignment #1

• Find an article in a newspaper, magazine, book, or on the internet.

• Answer the following four questions:1. Give a brief summary of the article.

2. How does the article relate to culture?

3. Use one of the sociological concepts in the lecture or textbook on culture to relate to the article.

4. What have you learned from the article?