Culture

What is culture, and what role does it play in society and in its members lives? culture - The way of life in a

particular society. Knowledge, values, customs and physical objects shared by members of a society. 1. The particular content of culture

varies from place to place, but all human cultures have the same basic elements.

2. cultural elements - values, norms, symbols, language, knowledge, religion, music, art, food, clothes, housing, leisure activities, media, etc.

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What is culture, and what role does it play in society and in its members lives? B. Human behavior is based on

culture 1. our way of thinking: our hopes and

fears, our likes and dislikes, our beliefs and habits (influenced by the time and place in which we live)

2. virtually everything we say or do - from shaking hands to falling in love.

3. culture is developed, used and modified as necessary (it is constantly changing.

Heredity - genetic inheritance 1. instincts - innate inheritance

(unlearned)patterns of behavior Is instinct or culture more important in determining human behavior? Why?

2. nature vs. nurture 3. reflexes - automatic reaction to

physical stimulus (babies cry when pinched, eyes contract in bright light)

4. drives - impulse to reduce discomfort (eat when hungry, sleep when tired)

5. culture channels these expressions of biological charac.

Norms and Values

norms - rules defining appropriate and inappropriate behavior (3 basic types)

1. folkways - norms that lack moral significance - everyday habits (sleeping on a bed, supporting school activites, a male taking off a hat in church) (breaking a folkway is not considered wicked)

2. mores - norms that have moral dimensions and that should be followed by members of the society (standing up for the National Anthem, swearing in church) (breaking a more brings strong disapproval)

a. taboo - most serious mores (a rule of behavior, the violation of which calls for strong punishment) (incest)

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Norms and Values

law - a norm that is formally defined and enforced by officials a. sanctions - rewards and punishments used to encourage people to follow norms

1. formal sanctions - imposed by persons given special authority (judges, teachers, gov.)

2. informal sanctions - imposed by most members of a group

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Norms and Values

Values - deeply held criteria for judging what is good or bad, desirable or undesirable, beautiful or ugly. 1. Why are values important? They have a tremendous influence on human social behavior because they form the basis for norms

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Beliefs and Material Culture A. non-material culture - beliefs, ideas, knowledge that influence people’s behavior 1. beliefs - ideas about the nature of reality (true or false) People base their behavior on what they believe regardless of how true or false the beliefs are.

B. material culture - concrete, tangible objects of a culture - autos, basketballs, chairs, highways, art (physical objects have no meaning apart from what people give them)

Beliefs and Material Culture Ideal and real culture

1. ideal culture - cultural guidelines that group members claim to accept

2. real culture - actual behavior patterns of members of a group

ex. - honesty - explain?

Cultural diversity and similarities cultural change - 3 reasons

1. discovery - finding something that already exists (athletic ability of females)

2. invention - creation of something new (cell phones)

3. diffusion - borrowing aspects from other cultures (food, democracy)

Cultural diversity 1. social categories - groupings of persons who

share a social characteristic (age, gender, religion)

2. subculture - a group that is part of the dominant culture but that differs in some important respects (San Francisco’s Chinatown)

3. counterculture - a subculture deliberately and consciously opposed to certain central beliefs

Cultural diversity and similarity Ethnocentrism - judging others in terms

of one’s own cultural standards (olympics, states, members of schools) 1. advantages - stability is promoted

because traditions and behaviors are highly valued

2. disadvantages - group becomes too rigid and inflexible and cannot change for the better

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis - our idea of reality largely depends upon language

Cultural diversity and similarity Cultural universals - general traits

that exist in all cultures (sports, cooking, courtship, education, etiquette, government, housing, music) 1. cultural particulars - the ways in

which a culture expresses universal traitsex. - role of women/men:

*In the U.S. women are mainly responsible for child rearing

* in New Guinea men are in charge of child rearing

* The Navajo Indians share domestic and economic tasks equally