Culture & Society – Key Vocabulary

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering definitions, cultural components, characteristics of culture and society, Filipino cultural values, and key sociological concepts from the lecture.

Culture

The knowledge, language, values, customs, and physical objects passed from generation to generation within a group.

E.B. Tylor’s Definition of Culture

A complex whole including knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by humans as members of society.

Material Culture

Tangible objects a society produces—machines, tools, books, clothing, artworks, furniture—that reflect technology, resources, and needs.

Non-material Culture

Intangible creations of society such as ideas about humor, beauty, happiness, or sadness.

Symbols

Anything representing something else with a shared meaning, used to create and communicate culture.

Values

Shared ideas about what is good or bad, right or wrong, desirable or undesirable; abstract guides that shape goals.

Norms

Shared rules or expectations for how people should act, think, or feel in specific situations, linked to social positions and roles.

Folkways

Everyday norms people follow for tradition or convenience.

Mores

Strict norms governing moral and ethical behavior; define right and wrong.

Taboos

Norms held so strongly that even thinking about violating them causes disgust.

Sanctions

Socially imposed rewards or punishments—positive or negative—used to enforce norms.

Beliefs

Ideas about what is real or true in the surrounding environment, based on common sense, folklore, religion, science, or combinations thereof.

Enculturation

The process through which individuals learn the culture they live in by observing family, peers, teachers, and others.

Culture Is Learned and Acquired

No one is born knowing a culture; it is absorbed through senses and experience from socializing agents.

Culture Is Shared and Transmitted

Passed to others and to future generations, mainly through written or spoken language.

Culture Is Adaptive and Dynamic

Continuously changes as new ideas, techniques, or technologies are added, modified, or discarded.

Culture Is Ideational

Provides ideal patterns of behavior that members are expected to follow.

Culture Gratifies Human Needs

Continues to exist only if it satisfies biological and psychological needs.

Culture Is Integration

Traits become ingrained, making them hard to remove; cultural elements fit together as a whole.

Society (Formal Definition)

A fairly large number of people living in the same territory, relatively independent of outsiders, and sharing a common culture.

Society as Interaction Outcome

Viewed as the result of multiple interactions that make future interactions meaningful and possible.

Tripartite Power of Society

Omnipotence (control), omniscience (culture/knowledge), and omnipresence (spies/everywhere).

Society as a Complex Whole

A social system where changes in one group affect the stability of other parts.

Society Is Relatively Large

Encompasses families, clans, tribes, neighborhoods, and communities intertwined on a broad scale.

Society Socializes Its Members

Most people are born into a society and are taught its basic norms and expectations.

Society Endures Through Generations

Must sustain and restrain members for at least several generations to survive.

Society Holds Members via Common Culture

Shares symbols, norms, values, interaction patterns, vision, and mission among members.

Society’s Geographical Territory

Members inhabit a specific area, fostering belongingness and shared purpose.

Respect for Authority

Cultural value promoting good manners and discipline but risking blind obedience.

Strong Family Ties

Provides positive support yet can lead to overdependence or nepotism.

Fatalism (Bahala Na)

Imparts strength and will, but may encourage procrastination (mañana habit) and ‘ningas-kugon’ (short-lived zeal).

Desire to Improve One’s Life

Fosters hard work and diligence; negative side is crab mentality.

Shame (Hiya)

Minimizes conflict but may cause dishonesty, cover-ups, or undermine hard work.

Camaraderie

Creates harmonious relationships yet can promote gossip, manipulation, irresponsibility, or vices.

Debt of Gratitude (Utang na Loob)

Cultivates appreciation and gratitude but may breed graft and corruption.