Sociology Culture Test

Gestures

*using one's body to communicate with others, are shorthand means of communication. 1. People in every culture use gestures, although the gestures and the meanings differ; confusion or offense can result because of misunderstandings over the meaning of a gesture or misuse of a gesture. 2. There is disagreement over whether there are any universal gestures. They tend to vary considerably around the world. 3. Because some gestures are so closely associated with emotional messages, the gestures themselves can often elicit emotions.

Nonmaterial culture

-Also called symbolic culture -A group's ways of thinking (including its beliefs. values, and other assumptions about the world) and doing (its common patterns of behaviors including language and other forms of interaction) Ex: North Africans assumptions that its okay to stare at people in public

robert edgerton

-attacked cultural relativism. suggested that some cultures endanger their peoples health, happiness, survival and that there should be a scale to evaluate life.

william sumner

-developed ethnocentrism

subcultures

1. A group within a large dominant culture. 2.People who have had different experiences which have led them to view at society differently or distinct way 3. Do not completely remove themselves from dominant society. Ex: Religion, hipsters.

Ideal culture vs real culture

1. Ideal-values/norms and goals that a group consider ideal and worth aiming for. 2. real-the norms/and goals they actually follow.

culture

1. Material culture—things such as jewelry, art, buildings, weapons, machines, clothing, hairstyles, etc. 2. Nonmaterial culture—a group's ways of thinking (beliefs, values, and assumptions) and common patterns of behavior (language, gestures, and other forms of interaction)

culture taken for granted

1. We assume that our own culture is normal or natural; in fact, it is not natural, but rather is learned. It penetrates our lives so deeply that it is taken for granted and provides the lens through which we perceive and evaluate things. 2. Coming into contact with a radically different culture produces "culture shock," challenging our basic assumptions. 3. A consequence of internalizing culture is ethnocentrism, using our own culture (and assuming it to be good, right, and superior) to judge other cultures. It is functional when it creates in-group solidarity, but can be dysfunctional if it leads to discrimination against those who are different. 4. Culture provides implicit instructions that tell us what we ought to do and a moral imperative that defines what we think is right and wrong

core values -robin williams

1.achievement/success -doing better than others 2.individualism (success due to individual effort) 3.hard work 4. efficiency and practicality 5. science/technology (using science to control nature) 6.material comfort 7.freedom 8. democracy 9.equality (specially of opportunity) 10.group superiority

folkways

1.norms not strictly enforced 2.Are routine ways of doing things developed by trial/error 3.Violations result in mild reaction Examples:Using appropiate cloths for an interview -proper manners

Culture shock

A disorientation that people experience when they come in contact with a different culture and can no longer depend on their take for granted assumptions about life.

Folkways, Mores, and Taboos

All groups have values (beliefs regarding what is desirable or undesirable, good or bad, beautiful or ugly), which they channel into norms (expectations, or rules of behavior, that develop from values). Norms include folkways (norms that are not strictly enforced), mores (norms that are strictly enforced), and taboos (norms so strong that the thought of violating them is universally revolting). Norms can be enforced through both positive sanctions (rewards that range from approving looks and gestures to material compensation) and negative sanctions (punishment that ranges from disapproving looks and gestures to imprisonment and execution).

Concept of culture

All human groups possess culture, which consists of the language, beliefs, values, norms, behaviors and even material objects that are passed from one generation to the next. Although the particulars of culture may differ from one group to another, culture itself is universal—all societies develop shared, learned ways of perceiving and participating in the world around them.

cultural relativism

Although all groups practice some forms of ethnocentrism, people can also employ cultural relativism, the practice of understanding a culture on its own terms without assessing its elements as any better or worse than one's own culture. Cultural relativism presents a challenge to ordinary thinking because we tend to use our own culture to judge others.

Core values

Because the United States is a pluralistic society made up of many different groups, competing value systems are common. Some sociologists, however, have tried to identify some underlying core values in the United States. These core values (values shared by many groups that make up American society) include value clusters (a series of interrelated values that together form a larger whole) and value contradictions (values that contradict one another). An emerging value cluster in the United States is a set of four interrelated core values: leisure, self-fulfillment, physical fitness, and youthfulness; a fifth core value is the concern for the environment.

culture

Culture can be subdivided into material culture and nonmaterial culture. Material culture consists of the tools and technology required to use them that members of society create and utilize. This includes art, buildings, weapons, jewelry, and all other man-made objects. Nonmaterial culture includes a group's ways of thinking (beliefs, values, and other assumptions about the world) and patterns of behavior (language, gestures, and other forms of social interaction).

Positive Sanctions

Expresses approval for following a norm. (It can be material, such as a prize, trophy, hugs, smiles, 'high fives)."

1.religiosity 2. education 3.romantic love

Heslin updated william's list/added

sapir-whorf hypothesis

Rather than objects and events forcing themselves onto our consciousness, it is our language that determines our consciousness, and hence our perception of onjects and events.

Sanctions

Reactions people receive for following or breaking those norms.

Ideal vs real

Social change often occurs when a society is forced to face, and work through, its value contradictions. The term "culture wars" refers to the clash in values between traditionalists and those advocating change. A distinction is made between the "ideal" culture (the values, norms, and goals that a group considers ideal and worth aiming for) and the "real" culture (the norms and values people actually follow).

Robin Williams

Sociologist Robin Williams identified ten core values: achievement and success (especially doing better than others), individualism (success due to individual effort), hard work, efficiency and practicality, science and technology (using science to control nature), material comfort, freedom, democracy, equality (especially of opportunity), and group superiority

Technology

Technology is central to a group's material culture, while also setting the framework for its nonmaterial culture. The term "new technology" refers to any emerging technologies of an era that have a significant impact on social life. The current "new technology" includes computers, satellites, and various other forms of electronic media. Cultural lag refers to a condition in which a group's nonmaterial culture lags behind its material culture.

culture not natural

The effects of culture are profound and pervasive, touching almost every aspect of people's lives. However, most people are generally unaware of their own culture; culture is so engrained that it is often taken for granted. People often become more aware of their own culture when their cultural assumptions are challenged by exposure to other cultures, particularly those with fundamentally different beliefs and customs.

Culture

The language, beliefs, values, norms, behaviors, and even material objects that are passed from one generation to the next.

Material culture

The material objects that distinguish a group of people, such as their art, buildings, weapons, machines, hairstyle, clothing. -Nothing inherently natural about material culture. Other definitions: The physical items a society shares. The tangible, physical items produced and used by members of a specific culture group and reflective of their traditions, lifestyles and technologies.

Cultural Relativism

To try to understand a culture on its own terms. (instead of using ours as a lens).

Value contradiction

Values that oppose one or contradict one another; to follow the means to come into conflict with one another.

Value Clusters

Values that together form a larger whole

culture shock/ethnocentrism

When people come into contact with cultures that significantly differ from their own, they often experience culture shock, a condition of disorientation that requires them to question their cultural assumptions. Culture shock is influenced by ethnocentrism—the practice of viewing one's own culture as preferable and using it as a yardstick for judging other cultures.

effects of technology

With the emergence of new technologies in mass transportation and mass communication, the world is becoming more interconnected. This has resulted in more cultural diffusion (the spread of characteristics from one culture to another) and cultural leveling (the process by which cultures become similar to one another). Cultural leveling is occurring rapidly around the world. Mickey Mouse, Fred Flintstone, and the golden arches of McDonald's can be found in Miami, Mexico City, Moscow, and in most other major cities of the world.

language

_______ allows human experience to be cumulative. provides a social or shared past, allows communication.

Norms

_____________ is defined as expectations or rules of behavior.

Symbol

a ________ is something that people attach meaning and that they use to communicate to one another.

taboo

a norm so strongly ingrained that even the thought of its violation is greeted with revulsion. When broken the individual is usually judged unfit to live in society.

Pluralistic society

a society made up of different groups

Ethnocentricism

a tendency to use our own group's way of doing things as a yardstick for judging others. (all of us learn that the ways of our group are better and superior).

achievement/success

achievement

Cultural Relativism

bullfighting in the united states is considered illegal and inhuman but in spain it is considered beautiful, and image of power, courage, and glory, is an example of ________, another is standards of beauty.

Language

consists of a system of symbols that can be put together in an infinite number of ways in order to communicate abstract thought. Each word is a symbol to which a culture attaches a particular meaning. It is important because it is the primary means of communication between people. 1. It allows human experiences to be cumulative; each generation builds on the body of significant experiences that is passed on to it by the previous generation, thus freeing people to move beyond immediate experiences. 2. It allows for a social or shared past. We are able to discuss past events with others. 3. It allows for a social or shared future. Language allows us to plan future activities with one another. 4. It allows for the exchange of perspectives (i.e., ideas about events and experiences). 5. It allows people to engage in complex, shared, goal-directed behavior. It allows us to have common understandings that enable us to establish a purpose for getting together with each other.

mores

core values strictly enforced, we insist on conformity. 2.consist on demands rather than preferences 3. Have great emphasis on moral significance

cultural universals

courtship, marriage, funerals, games are exmaples of ________. incest, murder, is the opposite.

democracy

democracy

efficiency/practicality

efficiency/practicality

equality

equality

freedom

freedom

positive sanctions

getting a raise is an example of a ___________

group superiority

group superiority

Counterculture

groups within the mainstream society whose values and norms place it at odds with the dominant culture. *Do not have to be negative -KKK, Gangs,Mormons, are examples.

hard work

hard work

value cluster

hardwork, education, material comfort are examples of

sapir-Whorf hypothesis

hebrew does not have separate words for jam and jelly, it uses the same words, but seeing it english their is a difference is an example of the______________.

values

ideas of what is desirable in life

individualism

individualism

Importance of language

is the basis of culture. It is critical to human life and essential for cultural development. Among other things, language allows human experience to be cumulative; gives people the capacity to share understandings about the past and develop common perceptions about the future; and provides for complex, shared, goal-directed behavior. According to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, language not only expresses our thinking and perceptions but also shapes them. The "descriptive terms" that we use can—and do—influence how we see other objects, other people, and ourselves.

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

language has embedded within it ways of looking at the world

Emerging Values

leisure,self-fullfillment, physical fitness, youthfulness, concern for the environment

moral holiday

mardi gras is an example of a

material comfort

material comfort

folkways

men walking without a shirt on is considered a

Symbolic culture

nonmaterial culture is also referred as

sociobiology

notion that human behavior is a result of natural selection and considers biological factors to be fundamental cause of human behavior.

negative Sanctions

replects dissaproval for breaking a norm. (being fined in court, can be symbolic : harsh words, or gestures such as frowns, raised fists.

science/technology

science/technology

cultural difusion

the spread of cultural characteristics from one culture to another.

Gestures

using one's body to communicate with other, to convey messages without words is an example of a __________.

Cultural lag

william ogburn's term ---meaning that not all parts of a culture change at the same pace...usually material changes first and nonmaterial lags.