Cultures and our Society Terminology Flashcards
UNIT 1
Material culture
The physical items that members of a society make, use and share.
Symbolic culture
(also called non-material culture) abstract human creations of society that influence people’s behavior.
Society
A group of people who are relatively self-sufficient and who share a common territory or culture.
Culture
The traditions, customs and behaviors of a group. This includes ideas, behaviors, values and artifacts.
Cultural universal
Customs and practices that occur across all societies.
What are the six institutions of culture and what do they provide?
Politics - administration and public order.
Religion - where belief systems and rituals are arranged.
Economics - organizes the production, distribution, exchange and use of resources.
Family - regulates marriages, reproduction and family.
Education - where knowledge, values and practices are passed on to the next generation.
Recreation - fulfills the need for mental and physical stimulation.
(PREFER)
Socialization
The things we are exposed to that teach us and shape us.
Beliefs
What people think is true about the world.
Values
Cultural standards that people use to distinguish good from bad.
Norms
Rules and expectations that guide behavior within a society.
Folkways
Informal rules that go without saying.
More
(pronounced moray)
Official rules, stated, like laws.
Taboo
Rules crucial to a society’s center (severely punished)
Sanction
Society’s response to a behavior.
Positive Sanction
Rewards for a behavior in accordance with norms/expectations.
Negative Sanction
Punishments for a behavior in violation with norms/expectations.
Ethnocentrism
Seeing your own culture as the best and all other cultures as inferior.
Cultural relativism
Looking at other cultures and their practices within the context of their society.
Social construct
An idea that is created and accepted by people in a society.
Race
Groups that are often divided based on supposed physical traits regarded as common among people with shared ancestry.
Racism
The belief that each race possesses certain characteristics, mostly in a way to distinguish superiority.
Cultural diffusion
A process in which something belonging to one culture is spread from one society to another.
