Ch 8.3-8.4 Flashcards
culture
shared wa of life including beliefs and practices that a social group shares
symbolic culture
consists of symbols that are recogized by people of same culture
symbols conve
agreed upon meaning can communicate vlaues and norms of culture including rituals, gestures, signs and words and help people within a society communicate and understand each other
ex of symbol in US
band on ring finger of left hand indicating marriage or engagement if ring has diamond
language
symbolic system that is codified for communication
letters ina n alphabbet have specific meaning and combine to form ords and sentences
language evolves
constantly and is vital for shaping ideas about who we are relative to each other in society
sapir whorf hypothesis
asserts people understand world thru heir language and that language shapes how we experience the world
material culture
involves physical objects and artifacts
includes clothing , hairstyles, food and design of homes
ex of material culture
american dream often includes a car a symbol of mobility and independence
non material culture
specific to social thoughts and ideas such as vlaues
popular culture
phrase used to describe features of culture that appeal to the masses , often those communicated thru mass media such as radio and TV
high culture
describes features often limited to the consumption of the elite ex ballet or pera
cultural icons
signs that represent their meaning in a given culture
culture universals
patterns or traits that are common to all people
pertain to basic human eperiences including brith death and illness
cultural differences are more common than these
values
defined as a culture’s standard for evaluating what is good and bad
often define how people in society should behave but do not atcually reflect how people behave
beliefs
convictions or principles that poeple hold
in order to promote societal values
laws, sanction or rewards may be in place to encourage behavior inline with social values and discourage behavior counter to values
norms
visible and invisible rules of social conduct in society
help define what types of behaviors are acceptable and inacceptable in accordance with society’s values and beleifs
sociobiology
study of how biology and evolution affected human social behavior
appliles darwin’s principle of natural selctio to socila behavior, suggesting there is a biological basis for behavros
particular social behaviors persis
over generations because they are adaptive for survival
for ex sexual behavior may vary between genders because men have a lower investmentin reproduction than women , who have to carry the abby for nine months
socio and biological predisposition
argue biological predisposition influenced by social factors
ex socio and bio predisposition
agressive individual may learn to channel these tendencies away from socially unacceptable acts ex assault and toward socially accepted activities like cae fighting
orgins of culture
lie in evolution
humans in various societies evolved the ability to categorize and communicate human experience thru symbols
cultural diffusion
transfer of elements of culture social ideas and processes such as religious traditions from one social group to another contributes to cultural similarities between diff societies