Sociology Chapter 3 (copy)

Sociology Chapter 3

Vocab: 

• Material Culture : The objects or belongings of a group of people, such as cars, clothing, and buildings.

• Nonmaterial Culture : The ideas, attitudes, and beliefs of a society, such as marriage customs, values, and traditions.

• Ideal Culture : The standards a society would like to embrace and live up to, such as having no crime or poverty.

• Real Culture : The way society actually exists, reflecting its imperfections and contradictions, such as the persistence of crime despite valuing safety.

• Social Control : The way a society encourages conformity to its cultural norms through rewards, sanctions, and punishments.

• Symbols : Objects, gestures, signs, and words that help people understand their world by conveying a shared, recognizable meaning.

• Language : A symbolic system used for communication and for transmitting culture.

• Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis : The theory that language shapes a person's experience and understanding of the world.

• innovation :  The initial introduction of a new object or concept into a society.

• Invention : The process of making known a previously unknown, but already existing, aspect of reality.

• Culture Lag : The time delay between the introduction of new material culture (technology) and the adaptation of nonmaterial culture (beliefs and norms) to it.

• Globalization : The integration of international markets and the resulting flow of goods, information, and people between nations.

• Diffusion : The spread of material and nonmaterial cultural items from one culture to another.

3.1 What is Culture?

• Material vs Nonmaterial Culture

  • Material culture

    • The physical objects a society uses and creates

    • Cars, clothing, tools

  • Nonmaterial culture

    • The ideas, values, beliefs, and attitudes of a society

    • Marriage customs, religious beliefs, work ethic

  • These two are linked, a material object often symbolizes a nonmaterial idea

    • Wedding ring representing the nonmaterial idea of marriage

• Culture shapes behavior

  • Almost all human behavior is learned and influenced by culture

3.2 Elements Of Culture

• Values

  • A culture’s standards for what is considered good and just

• Beliefs

  • The specific tenets and convictions people hold as true

• Ideal culture

  • What society aspires to be 

• Real culture

  • How society actually functions with imperfections and contradictions

• Social control

  • The use of rewards, sanctions, and punishments to encourage conformity to cultural values and norms

  • Positive sanctions

    • A smile for helping someone

  • Negative sanctions

    • A frown for rude behavior 

• Symbols 

  • Objects, gestures, signs and words that convey shared, recognizable meanings

  • A police badge, wedding ring, a stop sign or a company logo

• Language

  • A symbolic system for communication that transmits culture

  • It is constantly evolving

  • Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

    • The idea that language shapes our perception of the world

    • If a culture lacks a word for a concepts, people may not be able to fully experience or understand that

3.3 Pop Culture, Subculture, and Cultural Change

• Cultural change

  • Innovation

    • A new object or concept’s initial appearance in society

    • Discovery makes known previously unknown but existing aspects of reality

    • Invention results from creating something new by combining or existing objects or concepts

  • Culture lag

    • The time delay between the introduction of a new item of material culture and its acceptance or adaptation into nonmaterial culture

  • Globalization

    • The integration of international markets and finance