Chapter 2 - Terms Flashcards
Culture
the language, beliefs, values, norms, behaviors, and even material objects that characterize a group and 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, utensils, machines, hairstyles, clothing, and jewelry
nonmaterial culture
a group’s ways of thinking (including its beliefs, values, and other assumptions about the world) and doing (its common patterns of behavior, including language and other forms of interaction); also called symbolic culture
culture shock
the disorientation that people experience when they come in contact with a fundamentally different culture and can no longer depend on their taken-for-granted assumptions about life
ethnocentrism
the use of one’s own culture as a yardstick for judging the ways of other individuals or societies, generally leading to a negative evaluation of their values, norms, and behaviors
cultural relativism
not judging a culture but trying to understand it on its own terms
symbolic culture
another term for nonmaterial culture
symbol
something to which people attach meaning and then use to communicate with one another
gestures
the ways in which people use their bodies to communicate with one another
language
a system of symbols that can be combined in an infinite number of ways and can represent not only objects but also abstract thought
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf’s hypothesis that language creates ways of thinking and perceiving
values
the standards by which people define what is desirable or undesirable, good or bad, beautiful or ugly
norms
expectations of “right” behavior
sanctions
either expressions of approval given to people for upholding norms or expressions of disapproval for violating them
positive sanction
an expression of approval for following a norm, ranging from a smile or a good grade in a class to a material reward such as a prize
