Sociologically Studying Culture

Key vocabulary terms and theoretical paradigms relating to the study of culture as presented in the lecture notes.

Culture

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

Material and nonmaterial culture

The $2$ categories into which culture is divided.

Symbol

Nonmaterial culture consisting of anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by people who share a culture, such as a gesture, objects, and words.

Language

Nonmaterial culture that is an abstract system of word meanings and symbols that allows people to communicate with one another.

Values

Nonmaterial culture defined as standards that people use to decide what is or is not desirable, good and beautiful, and that serve as broad guidelines for social living.

Cultural Appropriation

The act of adopting elements of an outside, often minority culture, including knowledge, practices, and symbols, without understanding or respecting the original culture and context.

Gesture

Nonmaterial culture consisting of a movement of the body to communicate with others as a shorthand way to convey messages without using messages.

Religion

Nonmaterial culture consisting of a set of ideas and beliefs about God, worship, morals, and ethics.

Social norms

Nonmaterial culture reflecting the rules by which a society guides the behavior of its members; these may be classified as formal (written) or informal.

Folkways

Norms for routine or casual interaction that characterize everyday behavior.

Mores

Serious norms that are widely observed and have great moral significance, the violation of which may lead to severe penalties.

Taboo

The most serious norm of all, representing an implicit prohibition on something based on a cultural sense that it is excessively repulsive or too sacred for ordinary people.

Cultural universals

Patterns or traits that are globally common to all societies.

Cultural lag

The period of maladjustment when the material culture is still struggling to adapt to new material conditions.

Counterculture

Cultural patterns holding some values that stand in opposition to those of the dominant culture.

High culture

Cultural patterns that distinguish a society’s elite, such as purchasing multiple, expensive homes.

Popular culture

Cultural patterns that are widespread among a society’s population.

Culture shock

Personal disorientation, uncertainty, or fear when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life or culture, such as people wearing masks during the $1918$ pandemic.

Positive sanction

An expression of approval or a reward for following a norm.

Negative sanction

A reaction reflecting disapproval or punishment for breaking a norm.

Subculture

Distinctive cultural patterns, rules, and traditions that set apart some segment of a society’s population.

Cultural diffusion

Occurs when people learn from one another and adopt material objects that they find desirable.

Ethnocentrism

The practice of judging another culture by the standards of one’s own culture, often assuming one's own culture is the norm or superior to others.

Cultural relativism

The practice of judging a culture by its own standards, placing a priority on understanding other cultures rather than dismissing them as "strange."

Cultural imperialism

The deliberate imposition of one’s own cultural values on another culture.

Xenocentrism

The opposite of ethnocentrism, referring to the belief that another culture is superior to one’s own.

Structural functional analysis of culture

Theory stating that cultural values direct our lives, give meaning to what we do, and bind people together.

Social conflict paradigm

Theory stating that society values the culture of the dominant group while it devalues the culture of the marginalized.

Symbolic interaction paradigm

Theory stating that one's culture may reflect different symbols such as wearing a turban, greeting someone by bowing, or eating with your hands.