SOC101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Chronemics, Olfaction, Microexpression
6 Jun 2018
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What is Culture?
● Culture - a complex collection of values, beliefs, behaviours, and material objects
shared by a group and passed on from generation to generation
● Origins of Culture
○ It’s hard to determine when culture began because there is little material
evidence because not much survives over a long period of time, much of culture
is non-material, and many of the developments that enabled our ancestors to
become cultural were all interconnected and integral for the emergence of culture
● Defining Features of Culture
○ Culture is learned, shared, transmitted, cumulative, and human
○ Culture can be divided into two major segments
■ Material Culture - tangible artifacts and physical objects found in a given
culture
■ Nonmaterial Culture - intangible and abstract components of a society,
including values and norms
● Values, Norms, Folkways, Mores, Laws, and Sanctions
○ Values - beliefs about ideal goals and behaviours that serve as standards for
social life
○ Norms - culturally defined rules that outline appropriate behaviours
○ Folkways - informal norms that suggest customary ways of behaving
○ Mores - norms that carry a strong sense of social importance and necessity
○ Taboo - a prohibition on actions deemed immoral or discusting
○ Law - a type of norm that is formally defined and enacted in legislation
○ Sanction - a penalty for norm violation or a reward for norm adherence
Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism
● Ethnocentrism - the tendency to view one’s own culture as superior to all others
○ Being part of a culture causes a sense of group loyalty and pride that is important
when unity is necessary like wars and natural disasters
● Cultural Relativism - apprecieating that all cultures have their own mores, norms, and
customs and should be evaluated and understood on their own terms, rather than
according to one’s own cultural standards
● Sometimes when people encounter cultures that are very different from their own, they
experience culture shock - the feeling of disorientation, alienation, depression, and
loneliness experienced when entering a culture very different from one’s own and there
are four stages to understand the progression through feelings of culture shock
○ Honeymoon - a feeling of admiration and awe regarding the new host culture,
and cordial interactions with locals
○ Crisis - differences in values, signs, and symbols begin to inspire feelings of
confusion and disorientation that lead to feelings of inadequacy, frustration,
anger, and despair
○ Recovery - crisis is gradually resolved with a growing understanding of the host
culture and recognition that its values are consistent with its worldview
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Culture - a complex collection of values, beliefs, behaviours, and material objects shared by a group and passed on from generation to generation. Culture is learned, shared, transmitted, cumulative, and human. Culture can be divided into two major segments. Material culture - tangible artifacts and physical objects found in a given culture. Nonmaterial culture - intangible and abstract components of a society, including values and norms. Values, norms, folkways, mores, laws, and sanctions. Values - beliefs about ideal goals and behaviours that serve as standards for social life. Norms - culturally defined rules that outline appropriate behaviours. Folkways - informal norms that suggest customary ways of behaving. Mores - norms that carry a strong sense of social importance and necessity. Taboo - a prohibition on actions deemed immoral or discusting. Law - a type of norm that is formally defined and enacted in legislation. Sanction - a penalty for norm violation or a reward for norm adherence.
