Culture

What is Culture?

Culture is all shared products of human groups.

These include physical objects, beliefs, values and behaviors

Material vs. Nonmaterial

Material CulturePhysical objects made and used by people

Ex. Cars, Books, Clothes

Nonmaterial CultureHuman ideological creations

Ex. Language, Religion, Government

Culture vs. Society

Culture deals with things (products and ideas) people create

Society is the people themselves

Five Basic Components of Culture

1. Symbols

2. Language

3. Values

4. Norms

5. Technology

Symbols

Anything that stands for something else; shared meaning

Symbols are created by cultures and taught to the young

Symbols change from culture to culture

Language

Organization of written or spoken symbols into a standardized system

Language can vary from culture to culture and even in separate regions within a culture

Language is a great example of a cultural symbol

Values

Shared beliefs about what is good or bad, right or wrong, desirable or undesirable.

Values will determine both cultural character and individual character

It dictates what materials or nonmaterial a culture will produce

Norms

Shared rules of conduct that tell people how to act in specific situations (expectation of behavior)

Folkways: Norms with no moral significance (getting to class on time)

Mores: Strong moral significance (dishonesty, murder, theft)

Technology

Combination of a cultures objects and rules

Different cultures rely on different tools to combat their environment and you are judged by your mastery of those tools (computer skills are needed skills… but being a hacker is not acceptable behavior)

Cultural Traits

A tool, act, or belief that is related to a particular situation or need.

Examples: greetings, clothing, music, etc.

Cultural Complexities

Clusters of interrelated traitsExamples: Baseball… throwing, hitting,

pitching, fielding, running, sliding, rules, etc.

Cultural Patterns

Combining cultural clusters to make an interrelated whole

Example: American music, American food, American Athletics

Cultural Variation

What do we all have in common?

Cultural universals: needs that all societies must meet (cooking, medicine, language)

Dealing with Variation

Ethnocentrism: tendency to view ones own culture as superior to others

Normal reaction, provides unityIf extreme, can create a loss of diversity

Dealing with Variations

Cultural Relativism: belief that cultures should be judged by their own standards

Variations within Societies

Subculture: unique characteristics of groups in society that share values, norms, and behaviors (that are not shared by the entire population)

Helps make society more interestingMost subcultures present no threat to

societyEx. German Village

Variations within Society

Counterculture: A group rejects the values, norms, and beliefs of a larger society and replaces them with a new set of cultural patterns.

Can be detrimental (bad) to a societyEx. Hippies