Download Material Culture - Great Valley School District

2013 Culture Powerpoint
Lecture
Note-Taking in Graphic Organizer
• The basic definitions of the terms and concepts have been
included in the provided graphic organizer.
– You should highlight key points to help you process and
remember.
• We will be do Individual and Pair-Share Activities within this
lecture and you will do them in the graphic organizer.
• In the EXAMPLES column, you are to write down examples
from the powerpoint, your own life, and from the pair-shares.
• In the VISUAL column, you are to draw or print up an image
from the internet or powerpoint to help you understand and
remember the content.
Get You Thinking: What Would
Happen If?
• Pair-Share: Turn to your partner and select one of
the following situations to discuss and write down
your responses. Consider
• 1. How would other people behave and respond
and why?
• 2. How would you feel and why?
a) You cut into the middle of a line by yourself and stayed in line for at
least 2 minutes?
b) You sang loudly on a public bus by yourself?
c) You positioned yourself 6 inches from an acquaintance’s nose during
a conversation?
d) You laughed during a funeral?
Defining Culture
What is Culture?
• Culture is the entire way of life for a group of
people including all of their ideas, values,
knowledge, behaviors, and material objects that
they share.
• It is a lens through which one views the world
and is passed from one generation to the next.
• It is what makes us human.
• It is what shapes and guides people’s
perceptions of reality.
What is culture?
• Culture refers to
• The word
the universal
culture, from
human capacity
the Latin colo,
to classify, and
-ere, with its
communicate
root meaning
their
"to cultivate“.
experiences
symbolically.
Characteristics of Culture
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Culture is shared.
Culture is learned.
Culture is taken for granted.
Culture is symbolic.
Culture varies across time and
place.
Culture
varies around the world
English Punk Rocker
Buddhist Monks in Myanmar
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How Many Cultures?
•
•
•
•
One indication of culture is language
Global estimates document 7,000 languages
In the USA, there are about 200 languages
Upcoming decades will show the
disappearance of hundreds of languages
Material and Symbolic/NonMaterial Culture
Material and Nonmaterial Culture
• Material Culture includes all those things
that humans make or adapt from the raw
stuff of nature: houses, computers,
jewelry, oil paintings, etc (Stick from the
forest might be a part of material culture)
• Nonmaterial culture is a group's way of
thinking (including its beliefs, values) and
doing (its common pattern of behavior,
including language and other forms of
interaction) (Poem about stick)
Material Culture
• Material culture includes the objects
associated with a cultural group, such
as tools, machines, utensils, buildings,
and artwork.
Introduction to Sociology: Culture
12
Material Culture
• Physical objects people create and give
meaning
• Examples:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Homes
School buildings
Churches, synagogues, temples, mosques
Cell phones
Clothes
Cars
Computers
Books
Pair-Share Activity
• Pick ONE artifact in your home,
describe the item, and describe why it is
important to your culture?
Non-Material/Symbolic Culture
• Symbolic culture includes ways of
thinking (beliefs, values, and
assumptions) and ways of behaving
(norms, interactions, and
communication).
Introduction to Sociology: Culture
15
Non Material Culture
The products of collective human activity that have
no physical reality
•
•
•
•
•
•
Beliefs
Customs
language
Symbols
Music
Government.
What does a handshake symbolize?
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Non-Material Culture
• Rules of Etiquette for Eating: Japan
Non-Material Culture
Rules of etiquette for eating
U.S.
Non-material / Symbolic
Culture
We communicate through:
• Signs
• Gestures
• Language
Cultural Universals
Cultural Universals
• Customs and practices that occur
across all societies
12 Aspects of Culture or Ethnicity
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
History-time period and conditions under which a group
migrated or immigrated.
Social Status Factors – education, occupation, income
Social Group Interaction Patterns: Intra-group (within
group relations) and Inter-group (between-group relations)
Value Orientation – standards by which members of a
culture judge their personal actions and those of others.
Language and Communication: Verbal and Nonverbal
Family Life Processes – gender roles, family dynamics
Healing Beliefs and Practices – attitudes and beliefs about
health.
Religion – spiritual beliefs and practices
Art and Expressive Forms – art, music, stories, dance, etc.
Diet/Foods – preferred food eaten by groups.
Recreation – activities, sports for leisure, etc.
Clothing – types, styles, and extent of body coverings.
Examples of the Roles of
Cultural Universals
Religion, Education and Language
Religion Culture
 Religion: system of shared beliefs about the
sacred
 Major religious groups and some economic
implications---EXAMPLES
– Christianity
– Islam
– Hinduism
stratified
– Buddhism
– Confucianism
Protestant work ethic
Islamic economic principles
anti-materialistic, socially
anti-materialistic, social equality
hierarchy, loyalty, honesty
Education and Culture
Education
– Medium through which people are
acculturated
– Language, “myths,” values, norms taught
– Teaches personal achievement and
competition
– Critical to national competitive advantage
Education system may be a cultural
outcome
Language and
Culture
• One of the most important functions of symbolic
culture is it allows us to communicate through
signs, gestures, and language.
• Signs (or symbols), such as a traffic signal or
product logo, are used to meaningfully represent
something else.
• Gestures are the signs that we make with our
body, such as hand gestures and facial
expressions; it is important that these gestures
also carry meaning.
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Language: Culture Bound
Language, spoken
–“private” does not exist as a word in many
languages
–Eskimos: 24 words for snow
–Words which describe moral concepts can
be unique to countries or areas
–Spoken language precision important in
low-context cultures
Language, unspoken
–Context... more important than spoken
word in high context cultures
Words Past and Present
40s Slang
 Take a powder
 Fuddy-duddy
 Gobbledygook
 Eager beaver
 Flip your wig
 Lettuce
 Pass the buck
60s & 70s Slang
 Skinny
 Can you dig it?
 Spaz
 Far out
 Chill
 Bread
 A gas
 Bug out
Non-Verbal Gestures: Let’s
Look At The Different Meanings
For One Gesture
Italy
Greece
Egypt
Humorous Examples of
Language Differences
Between Cultures
Cultural Diversity – “Chevy Nova Award”
 Dairy Association’s huge success
with the campaign “Got Milk?”
prompted them to expand
advertising to Mexico
 It was brought to their attention
the Spanish translation read, “Are
you lactating?”
Cultural Diversity – “Chevy Nova Award”
 Clairol introduced the “Mist
Stick”, a curling iron into
Germany
 Only to find out that “mist” is
German slang for manure.
Cultural Diversity
Chevy Nova Award
When Gerber started selling baby
food in Africa, they used US
packaging with the smiling baby on
the label.
In Africa, companies routinely put
pictures on labels of what’s inside,
since many people can’t read.
Cultural Diversity
Chevy Nova Award
Pepsi’s “Come Alive With the
Pepsi Generation” in Chinese
translated into
“Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors
Back From the Grave”
Cultural Diversity
Chevy Nova Award
Coca-Cola’s name in China was first read
as “Kekoukela”, meaning “Bite the wax
tadpole” or “female horse stuffed with
wax”, depending on the dialect.
Coke then researched 40,000 characters
to find a phonetic equivalent “kokou
kole”, translating into “happiness in the
mouth.”
Components of Culture
Components of Culture
 Culture: a society’s (group’s) system of shared, learned
values and norms; these are the society’s (group’s) design
for living
– Values: abstract ideas about the good, the right, the
desirable
– Norms: social rules and guidelines; guide appropriate
behavior for specific situations
 Folkways: norms of little moral significance
dress code; table manners; timeliness
 Mores: norms central to functioning of social life
– bring serious retribution: thievery, adultery,
alcohol
Pair-Share Activity
• After Ms. Barben has gone over the
definitions for each and explained the
examples, you and your partner will
have five minutes to come up with your
own personal examples from your own
lives and ideas for the visuals.
Beliefs
• Shared ideas people hold
collectively within a culture.
• Specific statements that
people hold to be true or
false.
• Beliefs are the basis for many
of a culture’s norms and
values.
• Beliefs orient people to the
world by providing answers to
otherwise imponderable
questions about the meaning
of life.
Values
Values
• Culturally defined standards by which
people assess desirability, goodness, and
beauty and that serve as broad guidelines
for social living.
• Values determine what is considered right
and wrong, beautiful and ugly, good and
bad.
• Values can provide rules for behavior, but
can also be the source of conflict.
Values
Values determine for us what is desirable
in our life;
 If we learn other people’s values we learn
about other people;
 Values underlie our preferences, our
choices, indicate what we deem as
worthwhile in our society.

Values
• Values comprise ideas about what in life
seems important.
• Pair-Share: In your graphic organizer, what
are the values in the United States and
why?
American Values Examples
Key Values of U.S. Culture
• Robin Williams Jr. (1970)
– Ten values central to our way of life
1.Equal Opportunity
– Not equality of condition but equality
of opportunity
2.Individual Achievement & Personal
Success
3.Material Comfort
4. Activity and Work
– Our heroes are “doers”
5. Practicality and Efficiency
– Practical over the theoretical
6. Progress
7. Science
– Expect scientists to solve problems
and improve our lives
8. Democracy and Free Enterprise
Individual rights
9. Freedom
Individual initiative over collective
conformity
10. Racism and Group Superiority
– Some people in the U.S. still judge
others according to gender, race,
ethnicity, and social class
American Values
Americans traditionally prized success through
individual effort and initiative, Japanese emphasize
collectivism and loyalty to the company
Emerging American Values
 Values change over time:
• Material comfort
• Personal growth
 U.S. always valued hard work
 Recently, increasing importance of
leisure
 Time off from work for:
 Travel
Family
Community service
Norms
Norms
• Specific cultural expectations for how to
behave in a given situation.
• Norms are expectations for behavior
• A society without norms would be in
chaos; with established norms, people
know how to act, and social interactions
are consistent, predictable, and learnable.
• Social sanctions are mechanisms of
social control that enforce norms.
According to the informal norms of culture of the
mountainous Asian kingdom of Bhutan, people greet
each other by extending their tongues and hands
Norms
• Norms consist of expectations of how
people will behave in various situations.
• Pair-Share: In your graphic organizer, what
are the norms of Great Valley High School?
Folkways
Folkways
• Folkways are norms governing
everyday behavior whose violation
might cause a dirty look, rolled eyes, or
disapproving comment
• Example: Walking up a “down”
escalator in a department store
challenges our standards of appropriate
behavior
Folkways
• Less important rules of society
• Violation of rules hurts nobody except
the person breaking the rule
• Usually a violation of etiquette or habits
not acceptable to society
• Violators are usually ridiculed/made fun
of or people avoid them
• Manners not followed
Pair-Share Activity
• In the graphic organizer, what are
examples of folkways that illustrate the
differences between your parents’
generation and the current ninth grade
population of Great Valley?
Mores
Mores
• Mores: Means “manners” in French.
• Mores are norms that are essential to
American Values, close to legalistic.
• Attitudes from the past, habituated, very
little deviation allowed
• Duties, obligations, common to cultural
morality
Mores
Mores are norms deemed highly
necessary to the welfare of a society, often
because they embody the most cherished
principles of people
 Each society demands obedience to its
mores (violation can lead to severe
penalties
 Examples: murder, child abuse

Mores
• Mores: The fundamental ideas about
what is right/wrong, virtuous and sinful.
• Important because they involve moral
vision based on social cohesion,
continuity, and community in human life.
• Mores eventually become LAWS.
• Part of social life, not changing.
Mores
• Strict enforcement, and insistence on
conformity, we learn through
socialization via our institutions in
society.
• Examples: “prescribed” gender roles;
Americans eat beef, not horse, dog, cat;
you do not expose your genitals in
public
Sociologists Ian Robertson illustrated the difference between Folkways
and Mores: “A man who walks down a street wearing nothing on the upper
half of his body is violating a folkway; a man is wearing nothing on the
lower half of his body is violating one of mores (requirement that people
cover their genitals and buttocks in public “(1987)
Taboos
Taboo
A taboo is a norm so strongly ingrained
that to violate it creates disgust, revulsion,
horror - the thought of it makes people
sick:
 Eating human flesh - cannibalism
 Incest - having sex with relatives
 Pedophilia - adults having sex with
children

Taboo
a very extreme more in a society
 proscription
 almost unthinkable it is so unacceptable to
people
 people do not like to acknowledge that it
can occur in their society
 people are usually executed or given long
prison sentences for violations

Laws
LAWS

Norms which have been formalized
 written
down by legislature or courts
 punishment told before hand
 can be based on folkway or more
 can be code of law not based on folkway or more
 folkways tough to enforce of all laws
Pair-Share Activity:

In your graphic organizer, what are some
examples of recent laws that have been
created that reflect changes in the norms
of the American culture?
Sanctions
Social Control and Sanctions


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Sanctions are positive or negative reactions to the
ways that people follow or disobey norms, including
rewards for conformity and punishments for norm
violators.
Sanctions help to establish social control, the
formal and informal mechanisms used to increase
conformity to values and norms and thus increase
social cohesion.
Sanctions
Sanctions are penalties and rewards for
conduct concerning a social norm
 Conformity to a norm can lead to positive
sanctions such as pay raise, a medal, a
word of gratitude, or a pat on a back

Sanctions
• Shame
– Painful sense that others disapprove
• Guilt
– Negative judgment we make about
ourselves
Norms and Sanctions
SANCTIONS
NORMS
Formal
Informal
POSITIVE
NEGATIVE
Salary bonus
Fine
Medal
Jail sentence
Diploma
Execution
Testimonial dinner
Expulsion
Smile
Frown
Compliment
Humiliation
Cheers
Ostracism
Ethnocentricism
Does this picture offend you?
If so, then you may be guilty of
Ethnocentrism!
• Ethnocentrism is a tendency to evaluate and
judge the customs and traditions of others
according to one’s own cultural tastes, beliefs,
and standards
• We learn that the ways of our own group are
good, right, proper, and superior to other ways
• Ethnocentrism contributes to social solidarity
and a sense of value and community.
• However, it also fuels conflict.
Ethnocentrism
Has both positive and negative
consequences
 On the positive side, it creates in-group
loyalty
 On the negative side, ethnocentrism can
lead to harmful discrimination against
people whose ways differ from ours

Subservience to Males?
Moral Depravity?
Iceberg Metaphor
The Iceberg Metaphor
• The metaphor of culture as an “iceberg” is
extremely helpful in that it identifies aspects of
culture that are:
• Immediately visible= explicit, visible, taught (above the
water line). Only about one-eighth of an iceberg is visible
above the water. The rest is below.
• Part of the iceberg that emerges & submerges with
the tides= “now you see it, now you don’t” (at the water
line)
• Deep beneath the surface= “hidden culture” (below the
water line)
HOW IS CULTUE EMBEDDED IN
PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS?
THINK OF CULTURE AS AN ICEBERG:
you see it, but perhaps not the important
parts
Symbols; language
Behaviors
Practices
Customs
beliefs, traditions,
priorities,
assumptions, values
Norms
Individual
Reflection
• Why is culture
important?
• You have a choice of
writing or illustrating
your response at the
end of the graphic
organizer.