Chapter 3 Culture

culture

the ways of thinking, acting, and the material objects that together form a people’s way of life

nonmaterial culture

the ideas created by the members of a society

material culture

the physical things created by members of a society

nation

a political entity and a territory with designated borders

multicultural

our people follow various ways of life that blend

high culture

cultural patterns that distinguish society’s elite

popular culture

cultural patterns that are widespread among a society’s population

subculture

cultural patterns that set apart some segment of a society’s population

counterculture

cultural patterns that strongly oppose those widely accepted within

symbols

anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by people who share a culture

language

a system of symbols that allow people

cultural transmission

the process by which one generation passes down culture to the next

Sapir-Whorf Thesis

the idea that people see and understand the world through the cultural lens of language

values

culturally defined standards that people use to decide what is desirable, good, and beautiful, and that serves as broad guidelines for social living

beliefs

specific thoughts or ideas that people hold to be true

artifacts

physical human creations

technology

knowledge that people use to make a way of life in their surroundings

norms

rules and expectations by which a society guides the behaviors of its members

mores

norms that are widely observed and have great moral significance

folkways

norms for routines or casual interaction

social control

attempts by society to regulate people’s thoughts and behavior

social control

attempts by society to regulate people’s thoughts and behavior

multiculturalism

a perspective that recognizes the cultural diversity of the United States and promotes equal standing for all cultural traditions

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

eurocentrism

the dominance of European (especially English) cultural patterns

afrocentrism

emphasizing and promoting African (and diasporic) cultural patterns

cultural integration

is the close relationships among various elements of a cultural system

cultural lag

the fact that some cultural elements change more quickly than others, disrupting the cultural system

1. invention 2. discovery 3. diffusion

Why does culture change?

cultural universals

are traits that are part of every known culture

sociobiology

is a theoretical approach that explores way in which human biology affects how we create culture