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C hapter 3 . culture. The Basis of Culture. Culture: knowledge, values, customs, and physical objects that are shared by members of a society. Society: specific territory inhabited by people who share a common territory. Culture and Heredity.
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Chapter 3 culture
The Basis of Culture Culture: knowledge, values, customs, and physical objects that are shared by members of a society Society: specific territory inhabited by people who share a common territory
Culture and Heredity Instincts: innate (unlearned) patterns of behavior • humans cannot go far on instinct alone • humans face more complex issues
Is culture more important than instinct for people? • If all women had an instinct for mothering… • all women would want children • all women would love and protect • their children
How does heredity affect behavior? Nature v. Nurture Personality Traits: ½ determined by genetics ½ determined by environmental factors
Sociobiology Sociobiology: the study of the biological basis of human behavior • believe the behaviors that best help people are biologically based and • transmitted in the genetic code Criticism:
Language and Culture Symbols, Language & Culture The most powerful symbols are those that make up language
Common Proverbs The pen is mightier than ________________. Better safe than _______________. It’s always darkest before _______________. Don’t bite the hand __________________. No news is ________________________. If you lie down with dogs, you’ll __________________. A penny saved is a penny _________________. Children should be seen and not ____________. Better late than ______________.
Are Language and Culture Related? Language frees us from the limits of time and space!
The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis Hypothesis of linguistic relativity: our idea of reality depends largely upon language Since languages differ, perceptions differ
What can vocabulary tell you about a culture? When something is important to a society, there are lots of words to describe it
Norms and Values Norms: rules defining appropriate and inappropriate behavior
Folkways Folkways: norms that lack moral significance
Mores Mores: norms that have moral dimensions that should be followed by members of the society
Taboo Taboo: a norm so strong that when violated it calls for strong punishment
Laws Law: a norm that is formally defined and enforced by authorities
Enforcing the Rules Sanctions: rewards and punishment used to encourage people to follow norms
Formal Sanctions Formal Sanctions: sanctions imposed by people given special authority
Informal Sanctions Informal Sanctions: rewards or punishments that can be applied by most members of a group
Values - The Basis of Norms Values: broad ideas about what is good or desirable shared by people in a society
Basic Values of the United States • achievement and success • activity and work • efficiency and practicality • equality • democracy • group superiority
Beliefs and Physical Objects Nonmaterial Culture: ideas, knowledge, and beliefs that influence a people’s behavior
Material Culture: the concrete, tangible objects of a culture
Ideal Culture: cultural guidelines that group members claim to accept
Real Culture: actual behavior patterns of members of a group
Cultural Change invention discovery Diffusion
Cultural Diversity Subculture: group that is part of the dominant culture but that differs from it in some important aspect
Counterculture: a subculture deliberately and consciously opposed to certain central beliefs or attitudes of the dominant culture
Ethnocentrism: judging others in terms of one’s own cultural standards
Cultural Universals: general cultural traits that exist in all cultures
Cultural Particulars: the ways in which a culture expresses universal traits