Chapter 3, Culture

Key Terms

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

material cultureThe physical or tangible creations that members of a society make, use, and share.

nonmaterial cultureThe abstract or intangible human creations of society that influence people’s behavior.

cultural universalsCustoms and practices that occur across all societies.

symbolAnything that meaningfully represents something else.

languageA set of symbols that expresses ideas and enables people to think and communicate with one another.

Sapir-Whorf hypothesisLanguage shapes the reality of its speakers.

valuesCollective ideas about what is right or wrong, good or bad, and desirable or undesirable in a particular culture.

normsEstablished rules of behavior or standards of conduct.

sanctionsRewards for appropriate behavior or penalties for inappropriate behavior.

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

moresA particular culture’s strongly held norms with moral and ethical connotations that may not be violated without serious consequences.

taboosMores so strong that their violation is considered extremely offensive and unmentionable.

lawsFormal, standardized norms that have been enacted by legislatures and are enforced by formal sanctions.

technologyThe knowledge, techniques, and tools that allow people to transform resources into useable forms and the knowledge and skills required to use what is developed.

cultural lagA gap between the technical development of a society and it’s moral and legal institutions.

discoveryThe process of learning about something previously unknown or unrecognized.

inventionThe process of reshaping existing cultural items into a new form.

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

subcultureA category of people who share distinguishing attributes, beliefs, values, and /or norms that set them apart in some significant manner from the dominant culture.

countercultureA group that strongly reflects dominant societal values and norms and seeks alternative lifestyles.

culture shockThe disorientation people feel when they encounter cultures radically different from their own.

ethnocentrismThe practice of judging all other cultures by one’s own culture.

popular cultureActivities, products and services that are assumed to appeal primarily to member so the middle and working classes.

cultural ImperialismThe extensive infusion of on nation's culture into other nations.