Culture and Society: Comprehensive Study Notes

3.1 What Is Culture?

  • Culture and society distinction
    • Culture: shared values (ideals), beliefs that strengthen values, norms and rules, language, symbols, arts/artifacts, and people’s collective identities and memories.
    • Society: the people who share a culture.
    • In everyday conversation, culture and society are often blurred, but sociologists treat them as distinct concepts.
    • Communities can be anywhere from a neighborhood to a nation; sociologists study how culture and society relate and how diversity and social change shape culture.
  • Everyday examples of culture
    • Greeting norms: saying “Hello” and asking about the weekend; deviating from these unwritten expectations can elicit disapproval or misunderstanding.
    • If you detailedly describe how you are doing when asked, you’d violate norms in U.S. greeting contexts; in other situations (e.g., with friends) a detailed answer might be expected.
  • What makes up culture
    • Shared values (ideals)
    • Beliefs that reinforce values
    • Norms and rules that maintain values
    • Language to teach values
    • Symbols that form the language people learn
    • Arts/artifacts
    • People’s collective identities and memories
  • Sociological examination of culture
    • Focus on when a behavior is expected and when it is not, given context and situation
    • People interacting within a shared culture create and enforce expectations
  • Culture vs. society—typical public understanding
    • In the U.S., people may not distinguish culture from society, but the distinction matters to sociologists
  • Community and geography
    • Community: a definable region of a society (from neighborhood to country) or a group that identifies with a region or culture
  • Culture and diversity
    • The chapter explores the relationship between culture and society, and the forces shaping culture, including diversity and social changes
  • LEARNING OBJECTIVES (3.1)
    • Differentiate between culture and society
    • Explain material vs. nonmaterial culture
    • Discuss cultural universals and their relation to society
    • Compare ethnocentrism and xenocentrism
  • Humans as social beings
    • Smithsonian Institution research: humans have formed groups for almost 3{,}000{,}000 years to survive
    • Most human behaviors are learned (e.g., marriage varies across cultures; arranged marriages exist in many cultures)
    • Papua New Guinea: arranged marriages are common for many, with statistics such as about 30 ext{ extperthousand} of women marrying before age 18 and 8 ext{ extpercent} of men having more than one wife (National Statistical Office, 2019) – highlighting cultural variation in family practices
  • Unwritten rules and humor
    • Unwritten rules help people feel secure; what is humorous varies by culture (e.g., humor differs across societies)
  • Cultural propriety and daily life
    • Even simple activities like commuting reveal cultural propriety and expected behaviors (e.g., queue formation, personal space, and actions when boarding public transit)
  • Culture, humor, and differences across societies
    • Humor and its interpretation vary widely; what is funny in one culture may be offensive in another
  • Cultural universals (concept)
    • Patterns or traits globally common to all societies
    • Family unit as a universal example (regulates sexual reproduction and care of children), though expressions differ by culture
  • George Murdock and cultural universals
    • Murdock identified universals including language, personal names, and jokes
    • Humor is viewed as a universal mechanism to release tension and create unity (Murdock, 1949)
  • Is music a cultural universal?
    • Music evokes emotions and can cross cultural boundaries; 2009 Fritz et al. study suggests basic emotions (happiness, sadness, fear) are recognizable in a tribe isolated from Western music (Mafa in Cameroon) – supporting music as a cultural universal
    • Music helps foster group cohesion; evolution of language and music may have been linked (Darwin, 1871)
  • Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism
    • Ethnocentrism: evaluating another culture by one's own culture; believing one’s own culture is superior (Sumner, 1906)
    • Cultural imperialism: deliberate imposition of one’s culture on another (historically via colonialism; modern examples include aid practices and deforestation pressures on indigenous lands)
    • Xenocentrism: opposite of ethnocentrism; viewing another culture as superior
    • Xenophobia: irrational fear or hatred of different cultures
    • Culture shock and adaptation: disorientation when encountering a new culture; can lead to ethnocentrism or relativism; Ken Barger’s Inuit example shows value differences (survival skills vs. winning) and cultural relativism in practice
  • Overcoming bias
    • Sociologists strive to avoid personal biases; aim to balance ethnocentrism and relativism; appreciating other cultures without abandoning critical analysis
  • OVERCOMING CULTURE SHOCK (example narrative)
    • Caitlin’s trip to Madrid illustrates balance of curiosity, openness to norms (greeting rituals, meal times), and personal growth
    • Culture shock timeline: initial excitement, followed by stress and adjustment, and eventual adaptation
    • Culture shock can happen abroad or within one’s own country; time to adapt varies (weeks to months, sometimes years)
  • FIGURES (referenced in the text)
    • FIGURE 3.4: Example of exposure to new cultures and how cultural relativism is practiced

3.2 Elements of Culture

  • LEARNING OBJECTIVES (3.2)
    • Differentiate values, beliefs, and norms
    • Explain the significance of symbols and language to culture
    • Explain the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
    • Discuss the role of social control within culture
  • Values and beliefs
    • Values: ideals or principles high in regard within a culture (e.g., education is valued in the U.S.)
    • Beliefs: convictions that people hold to be true
    • Real vs. ideal culture: ideal culture is how a society would like to act; real culture is how people actually behave (e.g., teens’ ideal of celibacy vs. real teen pregnancy rates)
    • Individual vs. collective values: the U.S. is often described as individualistic; many societies are collectivist (group welfare over individual)
    • Social rewards and punishments (sanctions) support conformity to norms
    • Positive sanctions: praise, bonuses, social approval
    • Negative sanctions: disapproval, penalties, legal penalties (e.g., fines, imprisonment)
  • Norms and social control
    • Norms: rules of conduct; can be formal or informal
    • Formal norms: written rules (e.g., laws, school policies, no running signs). These norms are clearly stated and strictly enforced; examples include property rights (laws against theft)
    • Informal norms (folkways and mores): casual behaviors learned by socialization; not codified in law
    • Folkways: everyday customs that are not morally significant but guide day-to-day behavior (e.g., greetings, table manners). Violations are typically met with mild social sanction
    • Mores: norms with moral significance; violations can bring strong social disapproval and formal sanctions (e.g., plagiarism in academia, homicide)
  • Symbols and culture
    • Symbols include gestures, signs, objects, signals, and words; they carry shared meanings
    • Material culture vs. nonmaterial culture
    • Material culture: tangible items (e.g., metro passes, buses, clothing, jewelry, buildings)
    • Nonmaterial culture: ideas, attitudes, beliefs (e.g., capitalism as a concept represented by a metro pass)
  • Language and symbols
    • Language transmits culture; signs, letters, and symbols convey meaning
    • Sign language as a language with its own grammar
    • Written language consists of symbols representing spoken sounds; the English alphabet has 26 letters and a vast vocabulary; there are ~600,000 recognized words (OED Online, 2011)
    • Language and perception: Sapir-Whorf hypothesis (linguistic relativity) – language shapes thought and behavior
  • Sapir-Whorf hypothesis and studies
    • Original idea: language influences how we experience the world
    • Examples: numerals and cultural interpretation (e.g., German vs. Spanish adjectives for gendered nouns)
    • Boroditsky et al. (2002): gendered nouns in German vs. Spanish affect adjective use and perceptions (e.g., key as masculine in German vs. feminine in Spanish)
    • Language structure can influence behavior and perception (e.g., Finland vs. Sweden workplace accident rates; Swedish spatial language emphasizing movement timing)
    • Some scholars argue language can limit or enable thought; however, it does not eliminate all possible feelings or perceptions
  • Nonverbal communication
    • Nonverbal cues are learned through culture and can convey meaning beyond words
    • Some gestures are almost universal; others are culture-specific
    • Examples: smiling in the U.S. vs. some cultures where smiling may be rude; thumbs-up can be offensive in Russia or Australia
    • Body language and facial expressions communicate emotion and intent; misreading can lead to misinterpretation
  • Multilingualism and education
    • US bilingual education: Lucy’s experience – a district offered dual-language instruction (English-Spanish) to support literacy and subject mastery
    • Research (Slavin et al., 2008): bilingual education improves progress across subjects when taught in both the native language and English
    • Official language status in the U.S. is not codified nationally; many states have English as official language laws, while others oppose them (ACLU stance)
    • Bilingual signs and translations: modern businesses and public services increasingly provide information in multiple languages
    • Real-world relevance: bilingualism supports integration and career opportunities (e.g., Lucy’s law enforcement pursuits)
  • FIGURE 3.7: Bilingual signs in public spaces
  • LANGUAGE, SYMBOLS, AND CULTURE
    • Language is the primary system for transmitting culture; symbols convey shared meanings
    • Cultural norms are learned and reinforced through language and social interaction

3.3 High, Low, Pop, Sub, Counter-culture and Cultural Change

  • Cultural capital (Pierre Bourdieu)
    • Cultural capital exists in three forms: embodied (dialect), objectified (possessions), institutionalized (credentials)
  • Culture types
    • High culture: patterns of culture associated with the elite, intellectualism, prestige, wealth; formal, exclusive experiences (e.g., ballet, symphony, prestigious universities)
    • Low culture: patterns of culture associated with the lower class
    • Popular culture: mainstream culture; accessible via media and consumer outlets (e.g., sports, reality TV, music, anime, cosplay)
    • The lines between high culture and popular culture shift over time and place (e.g., Shakespeare moving from high to popular over centuries)
  • Subculture and counterculture
    • Subculture: a smaller cultural group within a larger culture with its own identity (e.g., ethnic groups, biker culture, body modification community, cosplayers)
    • Counterculture: groups that reject and oppose the larger society’s norms and values; may form their own norms and societies (e.g., certain cults)
    • Cults and legal/ethical clashes with broader society (e.g., Yearning for Zion) – authorities intervene when norms clash with laws
  • Cultural change and diffusion
    • Cultures change as new items enter material culture and are assigned new meanings in nonmaterial culture
    • Key processes: innovation and diffusion
    • Innovation: discovery (new knowledge) and invention (new combinations of existing knowledge)
    • Discovery example: Galileo’s telescope revealing Saturn (1610)
    • Columbus’s discovery of Hispaniola (new to Europeans)
    • Potatoes, tomatoes transforming diets; horses changing hunting practices
    • Inventions: electrical appliances, cars, airplanes, vacuum cleaners, lamps, radios, telephones, televisions
    • Adoption of innovations can reshape norms and practices (e.g., mobile phones lead to texting due to new norms around conversations in public)
    • Technological diffusion and the diffusion of innovations (Everett Rogers, 1962)
    • Diffusion: spread of material and nonmaterial culture from one culture to another; diffusion often precedes globalization’s cross-border exchange
    • Culture lag (Ogburn, 1957)
    • The gap between material culture (technology) and nonmaterial culture (norms, values, social institutions) acceptance
    • Leads to practical problems (e.g., infrastructure lag in the face of rapid population growth, traffic, pollution, parking)
    • Diffusion and globalization
    • Globalization increases interaction and interdependence; ideas and artifacts diffuse widely
    • Examples: Thai noodles, Italian gelato; TV and Internet spreading cultural content; demonstrations and digital communication influence political movements
  • FIGURE 3.9: Technology Adoption Lifecycle (Everett Rogers)
  • FIGURE 3.10: Zipper diffusion example (historical diffusion delay)

3.4 Theoretical Perspectives on Culture

  • Three major sociological perspectives applied to culture
    • Functionalism
    • Views society as a system where all parts work together to maintain balance and meet needs
    • Culture exists to meet members’ social and personal needs; cultural norms function to support social order
    • Examples: education as a core cultural value; classrooms, textbooks, libraries, and teaching approaches reflect a culture’s value on education
    • Membership in a culture or subculture fosters social cohesion and benefits the larger society by providing shared spaces and identities
    • Fig. 3.11 prompts reflection on how cultural symbols (e.g., Superman statue in Metropolis, IL) reflect societal values
    • Conflict theory
    • Sees social structure as inherently unequal, based on power, class, race, gender, and age
    • Dominant culture benefits from and reinforces inequality; education and other institutions reproduce privilege
    • Historical omissions in curricula (e.g., Native American oppression, Tulsa Massacre) illustrate how knowledge can reflect power dynamics
    • Symbolic interactionism
    • Focuses on micro-level, face-to-face interactions and the meanings people assign to objects and actions
    • Culture is created and maintained through ongoing interaction; language and symbols are central to meaning-making
    • Studies language change, new words, shifts in usage, and transmission of words across cultures
  • Key idea: culture is dynamic and socially constructed
    • Culture is learned through transmission across generations, yet it evolves via innovation, discovery, and diffusion
    • Societal tolerance and critical examination of culture are necessary; societies can question values while maintaining functional cohesion

Key Terms

  • alarm reaction
  • beliefs
  • cortisol
  • countercultures
  • culture
  • culture lag
  • diffusion
  • discoveries
  • distress
  • eustress
  • Fight-or-Flight response
  • folkways
  • formal norms
  • general adaptation syndrome
  • globalization
  • health psychology
  • high culture
  • hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis
  • ideal culture
  • informal norms
  • innovations
  • inventions
  • language
  • mores
  • norms
  • popular culture
  • primary appraisal
  • real culture
  • sanctions
  • Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
  • secondary appraisal
  • social control
  • society
  • stage of exhaustion
  • 3.1–3.4 cross-references (as noted above)