Culture Vocabulary Terms

These flashcards cover key vocabulary related to culture, providing definitions to aid understanding and retention of the material for the exam.

Acculturation

The process of adjustment to the dominant culture.

Assimilation

The process of giving up cultural traditions and adopting the social customs of the dominant culture of a place.

Cultural attitudes

Concepts and ideas in a society that are shaped by cultural opinions, beliefs, and perspectives.

Culture

The shared practices, technologies, attitudes, and behaviors that a society transmits from one generation to the next.

Cultural landscapes

The human imprint on the physical environment and the associated human patterns that represent culture.

Cultural relativism

An approach to understanding other cultures that seeks to understand individuals and cultures from a wider perspective of cultural logic.

Custom

The frequent repetition of an act, to the extent that it becomes characteristic of the group of people performing the act.

Ethnocentric approach

An approach to understanding other cultures that evaluates them from the perspective of the observer's culture.

Folk culture

Culture traditionally practiced by a small, homogenous, rural group living in relative isolation from other groups that are deeply connected to the land.

Habit

A repetitive act performed by a particular individual.

Indigenous culture

A local culture that is no longer the dominant ethnic group within its traditional homeland because of migration, colonization, or political marginalization.

Multiculturalism

A set of policies that promote the active participation and inclusion of minority groups in national histories, national politics, and cultural institutions.

Popular culture

Culture found in a large, heterogeneous society that shares certain habits despite differences in other personal characteristics.

Taboo

A restriction on behavior imposed by social custom.

Terroir

The contribution of a location's distinctive physical features to the way food tastes.