Culture

Question 1

Culture:

Answer 1

The knowledge, language, values, customs, & material objects that are passed from person to person & from one generation to the next in a human group or society

Question 2

Material Culture:

Answer 2

A component of culture that consists of the physical or tangible creations (i.e. clothing, shelter, art) that members of society make, use, & share

Question 3

Nonmaterial Culture:

Answer 3

A component of culture that consists of the abstract or intangible human creations of society (i.e. attitudes, beliefs, & values) that influence people’s behaviour

Question 4

Technology:

Answer 4

The knowledge, techniques, & tools that make it possible for people to transform resources into usable forms, & the knowledge & skills required to use them after they’re developed

Question 5

Cultural Universals:

Answer 5

Customs & practices that occur across all societies (we engage in similar activities that contribute to our survival, they ensure the smooth & continual operation of society)

Question 6

Symbols:

Answer 6

A symbol is anything that meaningfully represents something else (Culture could not exist without symbols because there would be no shared meanings among people)

Question 7

Language:

Answer 7

A system of symbols that expresses ideas & enables people to think & communicate with one another {Verbal (spoken) and nonverbal (written or gestured) language help us describe reality}

Question 8

Language & Social Reality:

Answer 8

A key issue in sociology is whether language creates or simply communicates reality; Sapir-Whorf hypothesizes, language shapes its speakers’ view of reality (Language not only expresses our thoughts & perceptions but also influences our perception of reality)

Question 9

Language & Gender:

Answer 9

Many scholars suggest language and gender are intertwined for instance:

The English language ignores women by using the masculine form to refer to human beings in general (i.e. mankind, man, chairman)

Use of pronouns he & she affects our thinking about gender, for instance, pronouns show the gender of the person we expect to be in a particular occupation (i.e. nurses & secretaries are referred to as “she,” while doctors, and engineers, electricians, and presidents are referred to as “he”

A language-based predisposition in sexual terms (regarding women) reinforces notions that women are sexual objects (i.e. fox, broad, bitch, babe, or doll); by contrast, performance pressures are placed on men (such as dude, stud, & hunk)

Question 10

Language, Race, & Ethnicity:

Answer 10

Language may create & reinforce our perceptions about race & ethnicity:

Words may have more than one meaning & create & reinforce negative images (i.e. terms such as: blackhearted - malevolent, a China man’s chance of success - unlikely to succeed, often used in pop culture & films) give the words black and China man negative & derogatory associations

The “voice” of verbs may minimize or incorrectly identify activities or achievements of various minority groups (i.e. Chinese Canadians “were given” the right to vote, when they, in fact, fought for the right to vote)

Question 11

Cultural Values:

Answer 11

Collective ideas about what is right or wrong, good or bad, and desirable or undesirable in a particular culture (Values do not dictate a person’s behaviour but provide criteria by which to evaluate people, objects, and events)

Question 12

Value contradiction:

Answer 12

Values that conflict with one another or are mutually exclusive (i.e. core values of morality and humanitarianism may conflict with values of individual success)

Question 13

Ideal Culture:

Answer 13

The values and standards of behaviour that people in a society profess to hold (i.e. claiming to be law-abiding, but abusing drugs)

Question 14

Real culture:

Answer 14

The values and standards of behaviour that people actually follow (in contrast with ideal culture)

Question 15

Cultural Norms:

Answer 15

Established rules of behaviour or standards of conduct {Prescriptive norms state what behaviour is appropriate or acceptable, proscriptive norms state behaviours that are considered inappropriate or unacceptable}

Question 16

Formal/Informal Norms:

Answer 16

Formal norms are written down and involve specific punishments for violators

Informal norms are unwritten standards of behaviour understood by people who share a common identity

Question 17

Sanctions:

Answer 17

Rewards for appropriate behaviour or for inappropriate behaviour {positive sanctions include praise, honours, or medals for conformity - negative sanctions range from mild disapproval to life imprisonment}

Question 18

Folkways:

Answer 18

Informal norms or everyday customs that may be violated without serious consequences within a particular culture

Question 19

Mores:

Answer 19

Strongly held norms with moral & ethical connotations that may not be violated without serious consequences in a particular culture

Question 20

Taboos:

Answer 20

Mores (traditions) so strong that their violation is considered extremely offensive & even unmentionable (i.e. incest, forbidden sexual activities)

Question 21

Laws:

Answer 21

Formal, standardized norms that have been enacted by legislators & are enforced by formal sanctions {Civil laws deal with disputes among persons or groups - Criminal law deals with public safety and well-being}

Question 22

Cultural Change:

Answer 22

Societies continually experience cultural change at both material & non-material levels

Question 23

Cultural Lag:

Answer 23

Williams Ogburn’s term for a gap between the technical development of a society (material culture) & its moral & legal institutions (nonmaterial culture)

Question 24

Discovery:

Answer 24

The leading process of learning about something previously unknown or unrecognized

Question 25

Invention:

Answer 25

The process of reshaping existing cultural items into a new form

Question 26

Diffusion:

Answer 26

The transmission of cultural items or social practices from one group or society to another

Question 27

Cultural Diversity:

Answer 27

Refers to the wide range of cultural differences found between and within nations and may be the result of natural circumstances or social circumstances

Question 28

Subculture:

Answer 28

A group of people who share a distinctive set of cultural beliefs and behaviours that differ in some significant way from those of the larger society

Question 29

Counterculture:

Answer 29

A group that strongly rejects dominant societal values and norms & seeks alternative lifestyles

Question 30

Ethnocentrism:

Answer 30

The tendency to regard one’s own culture and the group as the standard (and thus superior) whereas all other groups are seen as inferior

Question 31

Cultural Relativism:

Answer 31

The belief that the behaviours & customs must be viewed & analyzed by the cultures own standards

Question 32

High Culture:

Answer 32

Consists of activities patronized (pompous, superior) by elite audiences, composed of members of the upper-middle & upper class, who have the time, money, & knowledge assumed to be necessary for its appreciation

Question 33

Popular Culture:

Answer 33

Consists of activities that appeal to primarily members of the middle & working class (i.e. concerts, live sports, movies, the internet)

Question 34

Capital Theory:

Answer 34

A theory that views high culture as a device used by the dominant class to exclude the subordinate classes

Question 35

Fad:

Answer 35

A temporary but widely copied activity followed enthusiastically by large numbers of people (Most fads are short-lived novelties)

Question 36

Object Fads:

Answer 36

Are items that people purchase despite the fact that they have little use value

Question 36

Activity Fads:

Answer 36

Include pursuits such as body piercings or flash mobs

Question 37

Idea Fads:

Answer 37

These include New Age ideologies (The idea that the universe is divine)

Question 38

Personality Fads:

Answer 38

Acquired personality traits that are seen as trendy (i.e. those surrounding and emulating celebrities)

Question 38

Fashion:

Answer 38

A currently valued style of behaviour, thinking, or appearance that is longer lasting & more widespread than a fad

Question 39

Cultural Imperialism:

Answer 39

The extensive infusion of one nation’s culture into other nations

Question 40

Functionalist Perspectives:

Answer 40

Anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski (1922) suggested that culture helps people meet their biological needs (including food and procreation), instrumental needs (including law and education), and integrative needs (including religion and art)

Question 41

Conflict Perspectives:

Answer 41

Karl Marx stressed ideas are cultural creations of a society’s most powerful members. Thus this theory entails it is possible for political, economic, and social leaders to use ideology—an integrated system of ideas that is external to, and coercive of, people—to maintain their positions of dominance in a society

commodities—objects outside ourselves that we purchase to satisfy our human needs or wants

Question 42

Postmodern Perspectives:

Answer 42

postmodernists believe that we should speak of cultures rather than culture
Jean Baudrillard, one of the best-known French social theorists, believes that the world of culture today is based on simulation, not reality hyperreality—a situation in which the simulation of reality is more real than the thing itself