Chapter 2

institutionalized cultural capital

consists of anything (material or nonmaterial) recognized by the larger society as important to success in a particular social setting. -academic credentials for a job search, ability to dress the part, physical qualities

embodied cultural capital

consists of everything that has been consciously and unconsciously internalized through the socialization process. -words and languages one hears, has acquired, and has used to communicate with others, think about the world, and present the self to others.

social emotions

feelings that we experience as we relate to other people, such as empathy, grief, love guilt, jealousy, and embarrassment.

adaptive culture

in reference to the norms, values, and beliefs of the borrowing culture and the role each plays in the adjustment process.

passing on culture

people are carriers and transmitters of culture with a capacity to accept, modify, and reject the cultural blueprint to which they have been exposed.

intangible

that these creations are not concrete objects that can be seen directly or touched with the hands.

words of a language

we acquire a tool that enables us to establish and maintain relationships, convey information, and interpret experiences.

symbols

which are anything to which people assign a name and a meaning. (ex. word, sound, feeling, odor, gesture, idea)

norm

written and unwritten expectations for behavior, thought, and appearance deemed appopriate to a particular social situation. (ex. student handbooks, on signs-smoke-free area)

intensity of culture shock

1) the extent to which the home and foreign cultures differ 2) the level of preparation for living in a new culture 3) the circumstances- vacation, job transfer, or war- surrounding the encounter -can cause obsessive concern with cleanliness, depression, compulsive eating and drinking, excessive sleeping, irritability, lack of self-confidence, fits of weeping, nausea

Cultural relativism

1)that a foreign culture should not be judged by the standards of a home other culture 2) that a behavior or a way of thinking must be examined in its cultural context-cultural values, norms, beliefs, environmental challenges, & history

Ethnocentrism

A point of view in which people use their home or other culture as the standard for judging the worth of another culture's ways -Germany conserves water by turning off when brushing teeth -puts one culture at the center of everything, and all other ways are seen as strange or inferior

Subcultures

Groups that share in certain parts of the mainstream culture but have cultural anchors- values, norms, beliefs, symbols, language, and/ or material culture- that set them apart in some way -anchors associated to a place (church, community center, neighborhood)

Counterculture

Subcultures that challenge, contradict, or outright reject the values of mainstream culture that surrounds them. -nonvolient ex- Ghandi and MLK -violent activists- KKK

Culture shock

a mental and physical strain that people can experience as they adjust to the ways of a new culture. - does not have to be from a different country. can be from west to east, public to private faith

language

a symbol system that assigns meaning to particular sounds, gestures, characters, and specific combinations of letters.

linguistic relativity hypothesis

aka Sapir-Whorf hypothesis states that "no two languages are ever sufficiently similar to be considered as representing the same social reality"

cultural capital

all material and nonmaterial resources a person possesses or has access to that are considered useful and desirable (or not) in a particular social setting -objectified, embodied, and institutionalized

George Murdock

anthropologist who distinguished between cultural universals an particulars

values

are general, shared conceptions of what is good, right, desirable, or important with regard to personal characteristics, ways of conducting the self and other desired states of being.

folkways

are norms that apply to the details of daily life: what time of day to eat, how to greet someone, and how to dress for a school event such as a prom. -"give us discipline and support of routine and habit"

mores

are norms that mandate that a code of conduct be followed because adhering to that code is believed essential to a group's well-being. -violators are seen as evil and a danger to the society

beliefs

are shared conceptions that people accept as true concerning how the world operates and the place of the individual in relationship to others.

Cultural universals

are those things that all cultures have in common (ex. natural resources- trees and plants)

objectified cultural capital

consists of physical and material objects that a person owns outright or has direct access to. -object w monetary value (buy, sell, own) -symbolic value ability to understand, appreciate, and convey an object's meaning and value

reentry shock

culture shock upon returning home after living in another culture.

selective borrowing

even if people in one culture accept a foreign idea or invention, they are, nevertheless, choosy about which features of the item they adopt.

Mainstream (culture)

is defined as the popularly accepted trends, ideas, principles and values that are accepted by the majority of people.

laws

rules for behavior that are typically put in writing and enforced by agents holding jobs that exist to keep order. -sometimes derived by norms.

cultural diversity

sociologist perspective to capture the cultural variety that exists among people who share some physical or virtual space

cultural anchors

some cultural component- material or nonmaterial- that elicits broad consensus among members regarding its importance but also tolerates debate and dissent about its meaning.

material culture

the objects they possess and have access to and the meanings (positive or negative) assigned to those objects. (ex. smartphone, video games, clothing, tattoos, trees, diamonds)

cultural diffusion

the process by which an idea, invention, or way of behaving is borrowed from a foreign source and then adopted by the borrowing people

Cultural particulars

the specific practices that distinguish cultures from one another. (ex. foods defined as edible can vary)

nonmaterial culture

the values, beliefs, norms, symbolic meanings, and language guiding behavior and thinking

culture

the way of life of a people

cultural borrowing

used in the broadest sense; it can mean to steal, imitate purchase, copy, or be inspired by

Four types nonmaterial culture

values beliefs norms symbols

how quickly does the borrowing society consume the new information

varies 1)the extent to which the borrowing causes people to change ways of thinking and behaving; too many changes often leads to resistance 2) level of media -including social media- interest; the greater the interest, the faster and more far-reaching the diffusion 3) the social status of the first adopters