Sociology Chapter 2

Cultural Diversity

PreviewSection 1: The Meaning of Culture

Section 2: Cultural Variation

Chapter Wrap-Up

Sociology Chapter 2

Read to Discover

• What is the meaning of the term culture, and how do material culture and nonmaterial culture differ?

• What are the basic components of culture?

Section 1: The Meaning of Culture

Sociology Chapter 2

Culture consists of all the shared products of human groups which include physical objects, beliefs, values, and behaviors shared by a group.

Section 1: The Meaning of Culture

Sociology Chapter 2

Question

How do material culture and nonmaterial culture differ?

Section 1: The Meaning of Culture

Sociology Chapter 2

CULTURE

MATERIAL CULTURE

NONMATERIAL CULTURE

Section 1: The Meaning of Culture

Sociology Chapter 2

CULTUREAll the shared products of

human groups

MATERIAL CULTUREPhysical objects that

people create and use

Examples

Automobiles, books, buildings, clothing, computers

Examples

Beliefs, family patterns, ideas, language, political and

economic systems, rules

NONMATERIAL CULTURE

Abstract human creations

Section 1: The Meaning of Culture

Sociology Chapter 2

Question

What are the basic components of culture?

Section 1: The Meaning of Culture

Sociology Chapter 2

Basic Components of Culture

• Technology—physical objects and rules for using them

• Symbols—anything that represents something else and has a shared meaning

Section 1: The Meaning of Culture

Sociology Chapter 2

Basic Components of Culture

• Language—the organization of written or spoken symbols into a standardized system

Section 1: The Meaning of Culture

Sociology Chapter 2

Basic Components of Culture

• Values—shared beliefs about what is good or bad, right or wrong

Sociology Chapter 2

Basic Components of Culture

• Norms—shared rules of conduct

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Levels of Culture

• Culture trait—individual tool, act, or belief that is related to a particular situation or need

• Culture complex—cluster of interrelated traits

• Culture pattern—combination of a number of culture complexes into an interrelated whole

Section 1: The Meaning of Culture

Sociology Chapter 2

Read to Discover

• What are cultural universals, and why do they exist?

• What do the terms ethnocentrism and cultural relativism mean?

• What factors account for variations among and within cultures?

Section 2: Cultural Variation

Sociology Chapter 2

• Cultural universals—general features common to all cultures, such as cooking, dancing, and medicine

• ALL societies must develop certain features to ensure their fulfillment.

Section 2: Cultural Variation

Sociology Chapter 2

Question

What do the terms ethnocentrism and cultural relativism mean?

Section 2: Cultural Variation

Sociology Chapter 2

• Ethnocentrism—tendency to view one’s own culture and group as superior to other different cultures

Section 2: Cultural Variation

Ethno = people, ethnic group

centrism= centered

Sociology Chapter 2

• Ethnocentrism

Section 2: Cultural Variation

Sociology Chapter 2

• Cultural Relativism—belief that a culture should be judged by its own standards rather than by those of another culture

Section 2: Cultural Variation

Sociology Chapter 2

Cultural

Relativism

Section 2: Cultural Variation

Sociology Chapter 2

Cultural

Relativism

Section 2: Cultural Variation

Sociology Chapter 2

Question

What factors account for variations among and within cultures?

Section 2: Cultural Variation

Sociology Chapter 2

• Subculture—group within a society which shares values, norms, and behaviors that are not shared by the entire population

Section 2: Cultural Variation

Sociology Chapter 2

• Counterculture—subculture which rejects the major values, norms, and practices of the larger society and replaces them with a new set of cultural values

Section 2: Cultural Variation

Sociology Chapter 2

1. List five examples of material culture and five examples of nonmaterial culture.

2. What is language, and why is it such an important part of culture?

3. How do folkways, mores, and laws differ? List three examples of each type of norm.

4. How do cultural traits, cultural complexes, and cultural patterns differ?

5. How did Margaret Mead contribute to the study of cultures?

6. What is ethnocentrism? How does it differ from cultural relativism?

7. How are subcultures and countercultures related?

Chapter Wrap-Up Understanding Main Ideas