Communication and Culture Notes

Culture is defined as the learned and shared set of values, symbols, languages, behaviors, and norms that are internalized and relied on to distinguish one group of people from another.

Internal and External Factors:
- Region of birth and permanent residency.
- Gender identity.
- Sexual identity.
- Generational identity.
- Religious/spiritual affiliation.
- Media (magazines, internet, and social media).

Culture is learned through shared social experience.
The learning process is facilitated by:
- Enculturation: Learning and internalizing the values, customs, beliefs, and behaviors of one’s own culture through subconscious and implicit repetition of said values.
- Acculturation: Consciously learning the values, customs, norms, and behaviors of a different culture from one’s own, and modifying one’s own culture as a result.

Traditional Culture: Long-standing dominant ways of life for different societies across several generations.
Youth Culture: Culture created by young people, characterized by unique linguistic expression.
Media Culture: Significant impact of mass media on societies.
Subculture: Culture emerged from within a dominant culture.
Counterculture: Groups actively challenging prevailing cultural norms, ideologies, worldviews, trends, and assumptions of a society.

Identity: Reflective views of ourselves and other perceptions of our self-images.
- Social identity.
- Personal identity.
Identity and culture are closely interlinked, with culture significantly influencing identity.

Individuals are initially encultured into a traditional culture with specific values, symbols, languages, behaviors, and norms through socialization from birth.
Communication among members of the same culture tends to proceed smoothly.
Different cultures adopt different verbal and nonverbal communication cues that distinguish members from those who do not ascribe to the same culture.