CULTURE

Culture

Complex whole which includes

knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, law,
custom and any other capabilities and
habits acquired by man as a member of
society (Edward B. Taylor)
Way of life of a social group
 Forms of Culture
Material Culture- refers to the physical
or technological aspects of our daily
lives
Non-material Culture- refers to the
group's ways of thinking and common
patterns of behavior
Characteristics of Culture

Culture is learned.
Culture is shared.
Culture is cumulative.
Culture is dynamic.
Culture is diverse.
Symbolic Components of
Culture
1. Language- system of symbols that can
be put together in an infinite number of
ways in order to communicate abstract
thought

2. Gesture- another form of symbols in

which people use their bodies as
shorthand means of communicating with
one another
3. Values- abstract, collective conceptions
and generalized principles of behavior to
which the members of a group consider
what is good, desirable and proper or bad,
undesirable and improper in a culture
4. Norms- established standards of
behavior maintained by a society
Mores- norms deemed highly necessary to
the welfare of a society
Folkways- norms governing everyday
behavior whose violation raises comparatively
little concern
Laws- formal norms written and enacted by a
governing body or authority
5. Beliefs- ideas that people hold about
the universe or a part of the total reality
surrounding them
 Cultural Integration and
Cultural Variation
Cultural Integration- Culture Variation-
refers to bringing diversity among the
together conflicting many cultures
cultural elements,
Subculture
resulting in a
harmonious and Counterculture
cohesive whole
 Aspects of Cultural
Variation
Subculture- Counterculture-
smaller groups set members in
within a society opposition to the
Set members off dominant culture
from the general
culture
Attitudes Toward Culture
Variation
Ethnocentrism-tendency to assume that
one's culture and way of life are superior to all
others
Xenocentrism-belief that the products, styles
or ideas of one's society are inferior to those
that originate elsewhere, or the rejection of the
culture of one's own group
 Cultural Relativism-viewing of people's
behavior from the perspective of their
own culture
Culture Shock-feeling of surprise and
disorientation that is experienced when
people witness cultural practices
different from their own
 Cultural Lag and Cultural
Survival
Cultural Lag- situation Cultural Survival-
when one or some parts of
a culture change at a faster represents a
rate than other related
parts, with a resulting
traditional way that
disruption of the integration has not changed
and equilibrium of the with the times
culture (William F. Ogburn)