Chapter 2 Notes Cultural Diversity

Culture ALL the shared products of human groups – both physical and the beliefs, values, and behaviors shared by a group.

Material Culture Physical objects that people create and use

Nonmaterial Culture Abstract human creations (beliefs, values, etc)

Society Group of interdependent people who have organized in such a way as to share a common culture and feeling of unity

Technology Knowledge and tools people use for practical purposes

Symbol Anything that stands for something else and has a shared meaning attached to it.

Language Organization of written or spoken symbols into a standardized system.

Values Shared beliefs about what is good or bad, right or wrong, desirable or undesirable.

Norms Shared rules of conduct that ell people how to act in specific situations

Folkways Norms that describe socially acceptable behavior but do not have great moral significance attached to them – outline common customs of everyday life.

Mores Norms that have great moral significance attached to them; violation of such rules endangers society's well-being and stability.

Laws Written rules of conduct enacted and and enforced by the government.

Culture Trait An individual tool, act, or belief that is related to a particular situation or need.

Culture Complex A cluster of interrelated traits.

Culture Patterns Combination of a number of culture complexes into an interrelated whole.

Cultural Universals Common features that are found in all human cultures. (George Murdock)

Ethnocentrism Tendency to view one’s own culture and group as superior to all other cultures and groups.

Cultural Relativism Belief that cultures should be judged by their own standards.

Subculture Group with its own unique values, norms, and behaviors that exists within a larger culture. (Edwin Suterland)

Counterculture Group that rejects the values, norms, and practices of the larger society and replaces them with a new stet of cultural patterns.