Meaning of culture

culture

2. Culture
PREPARED BY
UMAIR

3. What is Culture?
Culture – the values, beliefs, behavior, and material
objects that form a people’s way of life
Only humans rely on
culture rather than
instinct to ensure
survival.

4. What is Culture?
Nonmaterial culture –
ideas created by
members of a society.
Material culture –
tangible things
created by members
of a society.

5. What is Culture?
Society refers to
people who interact in
a defined territory and
share culture.
Culture shock refers to
personal disorientation
when experiencing an
unfamiliar way of life.

6. The Elements of Culture
Although cultures vary, they all have five common
components:
(1) Symbols
(2) Language
(3) Values & Beliefs
(4) Norms
(5) Ideal & Real
Culture

7. Elements of Culture
Symbols
Symbols – anything that carries a
particular meaning recognized by
people who share culture.

8. Elements of Culture
Symbols
Symbols – collective creations
General Marketing
•Aimed at a total
population
Segmented
Marketing
•Aimed at a
specific
population

9. Human Languages: A Variety of Symbols
Here the single English word “Read” is written in twelve of the
hundreds of languages humans use to communicate with one
another.
Figure 2.1 (p. 46)

10. Elements of Culture
Language
Language – a system of symbols that
allows people to communicate with one
another.
Language allows for the continuity of
culture.

11. Elements of Culture
Language
Cultural
transmission –
the process by
which one
generation passes
culture to the next.
Every society
transmits culture
through speech.

12. The Sapir-Whorf Thesis
Languages are not just
different sets of labels for the
same reality.
All languages fuse symbols
with distinctive emotions.
The Sapir-Whorf Thesis
– people perceive the world
through the cultural lens of
language.

13. The Sapir-Whorf Thesis
Example:
Workman handling
full barrels of
gasoline: very careful
with matches
Workman handling
empty barrels of
gasoline: not very
careful with matches

14. The Sapir-Whorf Thesis
Snow
Falling
Drifting
Frozen
Fresh
Dirty
In a cone
Behavior:
Drive your
car
Go skiing
Walk or
play
Eat it
Build a
snowman

15. Elements of Culture
Values and Beliefs
Values – culturally defined standards by which
people assess desirability, goodness, and beauty
and that serve as broad guidelines for social
living.
Values are abstract standards of
goodness.

16. Elements of Culture
Values and Beliefs
Beliefs – specific
statements that
people hold to be
true.
Beliefs are
particular matters
that individuals
consider true or
false.

17. Elements of Culture
Values and Beliefs
Value
Conflict
oHusband enjoys spending time
with family
oJob demands takes him away
from family=stress
Options:
•Quit his job
•Take family on job trips
•Compromise on both family
and job demands
•Leave his family

18. Elements of Culture
Societies show significant cultural
variations in their favorite sports.
Canada: Ice
Hockey
Jamaica: Cricket
Thailand: Kite flying
China: tai chi chuan

19. Key Values of United States Culture
Equal Opportunity
Achievement and
Success
Material Comfort
Activity and Work
Practicality and
Efficiency

20. Key Values of United States Culture
Progress
Science
Democracy and
Free Enterprise
Freedom
Racism and Group
Superiority

21. Elements of Culture
Norms
oNorms – rules and
expectations by which a
society guides the
behavior of its members.
oMost important norms in a
culture apply everywhere
and at all times.

22. Elements of Culture
Norms
Mores – norms that are widely observed
and have great moral significance.
Folkways –
norms for
routine, casual
interaction.

23. Elements of Culture
Norms
Mores
Inspire intense
reactions
Punishment
inevitably follows
Societal taboos such as:

Murder

Treason

Child sexual abuse
(Right vs. wrong)

24. Elements of Culture
Norms
Folkways (polite vs. rude) –

People chew quietly with mouths closed

Accepting one’s place in line

People avoid facing each other in elevators
No written rules
No one physically
harmed

25. Technology & Culture
Sociocultural
evolution
Material culture also reflects a society’s
technology – knowledge that people use to
make a way of life in their surroundings.

26. Technology and Culture

hunting and gathering
societies

horticultural & pastoralism

agriculture

industry

postindustrial information
technology

27. Cultural Diversity
Cultural diversity can
involve social class.
Many cultural
patterns are readily
accessible to only
some members of a
society.

28. Cultural Diversity
Popular culture –
cultural patterns
that are
widespread
among a
population.
High culture – cultural
patterns that distinguish
a society’s elite

29. Subcultures
Subculture – cultural patterns that set apart
some segment of society’s population.

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

31. Multiculturalism
Eurocentrism – the
dominance of European
cultural patterns.
Afrocentrism – the
dominance of African
cultural patterns.

32. Counterculture
Counterculture –
cultural patterns that
rejects and opposes
those widely
accepted within a
society.

33. Counterculture
Countercultures:
•Hippies of the 60’s
•Street Gangs
•Extreme right-wing
religious groups

34. Cultural Change
•Cultural integration
– the close
relationships among
various elements of a
cultural system.
•Some elements of
culture change
faster than others –
cultural lag.

35. Cultural Change
Cultural integration
•Examples:
–Women in the
workforce
•Late age marriages
•Change in family
patterns
•Increased use of day
care

36. Cultural Change
Cultural changes
•New cultural elements
–Cell phones
–I-pods
–iPhones
•Diffusion
–Spread of objects
from one society to
another

37. Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism
Ethnocentrism –
the practice of
judging another
culture by the
standards of one’s
own culture.

38. Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism
Cultural Relativism
– the practice of
evaluating a
culture by that
culture’s own
standards.
Cultural Universals

39. A Global Culture
Global economy: the flow of goods
Global communication: the flow of information
Global migration: the flow of people