Culture, Society, and Language

Flashcards about culture, society, norms, values, and language.

Culture

The totality of learned, socially transmitted customs, knowledge, material objects, and behavior.

Aspects of Culture

Ideas, values, and artifacts (e.g., DVDs, comic books, birth control devices) of groups of people.

Sociological View of Culture

Includes all objects and ideas within a society, such as slang words, ice cream cones, and rock music, not solely the fine arts and refined intellectual taste.

Society

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

How Culture Influences Human Behavior

Provides a 'toolkit' of habits, skills, and styles that shapes acquisition of knowledge, interactions, and entrance into the job market.

Cultural Universals

Common practices and beliefs that all societies have developed, often adaptations to meet essential human needs.

Examples of Cultural Universals

Athletic sports, cooking, dancing, visiting, personal names, marriage, medicine, religious ritual, funeral ceremonies, sexual restrictions, and trade.

Ethnocentrism

The tendency to assume that one's own culture and way of life represent the norm or are superior to all others.

Cultural Relativism

Viewing people's behavior from the perspective of their own culture, prioritizing understanding over judgment.

Sociobiology

The systematic study of how biology affects human social behavior.

Natural Selection

Process of adapting to the environment through random genetic variation that enhances survival, applied to social behavior by sociobiologists.

Language

A major element of culture and a component of cultural capital that facilitates day-to-day exchanges within a society.

Nonverbal Communication

The use of gestures, facial expressions, and other visual images to communicate, learned within a culture.

Symbols

Gestures, objects, and words that form the basis of human communication, carrying rich meanings that may vary across social contexts.

Norms

Established standards of behavior maintained by a society, requiring wide sharing and understanding.

Formal Norms

Norms that have been written down and specify strict punishments for violators, such as laws.

Informal Norms

Norms that are generally understood but not precisely recorded, such as standards of proper dress.

Mores

Norms deemed highly necessary to the welfare of a society, often embodying cherished principles.

Folkways

Norms governing everyday behavior that are less likely to be formalized and whose violation raises comparatively little concern.

Sanctions

Penalties and rewards for conduct concerning a social norm, including both positive and negative consequences.

Cultural Values

Collective conceptions of what is considered good, desirable, and proper or bad, undesirable, and improper in a culture.

Dominant Ideology

A set of cultural beliefs and practices that helps to maintain powerful social, economic, and political interests.