Sociology (SYMBOLS, VALUES AND NORMS: Crash Course #10)

nonverbal gestures

- is a form of language, which is itself a symbolic system that people with culture can use to communicate. - outward signs of emotional states; includes body language, eye contact and facial expressions

language

may differ. It is more than just words we speak. (help us communicate, shape, and pass on culture).

TABOO

- A restriction on behavior imposed by social custom. - the norms that are crucial to a society's moral center, involving behaviors that are always negatively sanctioned. - these are never okay, no matter the circumstance, and they violate your very sense of decency. - examples are Cannibalism, incest, and child molestation; killing is not.

Benjamin Lee Whorf

- Concept of "liguistic determinism" or how language impacts thought - American linguist, who helped shape this theory - did his original research on indigenous languages like Hopi and Inuit. (So-social - his response to his critics was: Hab SoSll' Quch!) - he claimed that because Hopi language describes time differently, the Hopi people think of time differently. Anthropological suggests otherwise. -Whorf study led to a strange, and false, stereotype that Hopi people, quote "have no sense of time".

Mores

- norms that are widely observed and have great moral significance - more official than folkways and tend to be codified, or formalized, as the stated rules and laws of society. - always get negative sanctions when broken. (get fired for coming to work topless) -aren't universal. (you may get fired from showing up at work naked, but men in the beach are shirtless).

Folkways

- norms that lack moral significance - the informal little rules that kind of go without saying. - it Is not illegal to violate folkway, but if you do, there might be ramifications - or what we call negative sanctions. (being grounded by parents, strange looks)

Norms

- rules and expectations by which a society guides the behavior of its members -the rules and expectations that guide behavior within a society. (Giving up your sear for an elderly person - Great! Picking up your nose- Gross!)

Beliefs

- specific ideas that people hold to be true. - specific ideas about what people think is true about the world. - Example: An American value is democracy, while a common belief is that a good political system is where everyone can vote. - Western countries like the US tend to value individualism and stress the importance of each person's own needs, whereas Eastern countries like China tend to value collectivism and stress the importance of groups over individuals.

Values

- the ideas, beliefs, and attitudes about what is important that help guide the way you live - help us organize culture into moral categories. - cultural standards that people use to decide what's good or bad, what's right or wrong. They serve as the ideals and guidelines that we live by.

Culture

- the way the NON-MATERIAL OBJECTS - like thoughts, action, language, and VALUES - come together with MATERIAL OBJECTS to form a way of life. - the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next

cultural transmission

- whether its written, spoken, or non-verbal, language allows us to share the things that make up our culture. - this also affects how people see the world around them. - the way people come to learn the values, beliefs, and social norms of their culture

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

-the theory that argues that a person's thoughts and actions are influenced by the cultural lens created by the language they speak. -Example: What gender is the moon? Some are feminine/masculine. - in one study, Spanish and German people were asked to rate objects - which were gendered in their language - with reference to certain traits. (Is the moon beautiful? Associated with feminine). - another study found that when a name was assigned to an object, and the name matched the gender of the word for it, it was easier for people to remember the name. (Maria Moon) - Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf's hypothesis that language creates ways of thinking and perceiving

· IDEAS - 3 MAIN ELEMENTS (Symbols, Values and Beliefs, and Norms)

1. SYMBOLS - anything that carries a specific meaning that's recognized by people who share a culture. (stop sign, gesture, etc.)

· 2 MAIN COMPONENTS:

1. THINGS - Street signs, crosswalk signs (material culture) 2. IDEAS - red means stop. (nonmaterial culture)- made up of intangible creations of human society -values, symbols, customs, ideals, freedom.

1. Folkways 2. Mores 3. Laws

3 types of norms