Understanding Culture and Communication

Cultural Diversity

• Multicultural diversity is a large topic
• Cultural norms guide behaviors, rituals, and interactions within a community
• Cultural norms are often deeply ingrained and influence belonging, identity, and self-expression
• Intercultural exchange fosters a melting pot of ideas, values, and traditions leading to hybrid identities and new forms of cultural expression

Culture

• Culture encompasses the characteristics and knowledge specific to a group of people, including language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music, and art
• Derived from the Latin term "colere," meaning to tend to the earth and grow, representing cultivation and nurture
• Shapes identity and influences behavior
• Part of our "way of being," transmitted by learning, and shapes our beliefs and behaviors
• Universal among all human groups and some primates
• Brings people together, creates cultural group uniqueness and facilitates communication between people
• A behavioral manner for individuals with different backgrounds, important in work environments
• Refers to employee abilities, skills, communication, and attitudes toward oneself, co-workers, and different cultures
• Aims to clarify what is correct, honest, true, and important
• Establishes rules and regulations for society to ensure peace and stability
• Explains how to live, talk, think and do things

Economics

• Covers how individuals in a culture earn their living, including their labor status, forms of money, and specific skills and technologies used to earn income.

Religion

• Refers to the beliefs and spiritual practices (myths) of a people.

Social Institutions

• Conveys the structure of community and entails details like educational systems, social laws and customs, marital organizations, and rites of passage.

Art

• Part of the cultural description. Includes music, dance, architecture, painting, and drama

Language

• Essential element of culture
• Dictates how individuals communicate (both verbal and non-verbal)

Basic Necessities

• Explains in detail how individuals in a specific culture live. This includes clothing type, food, transportation, and animal use and taboos

Government

• Describes and explains how individuals are governed. This includes who heads the culture and how the hierarchy system operates.

Five Characteristics of Culture

• Culture is learned, not biological; acquired from families, peers, institutions, and media.
• Culture is shared through learning; it shapes beliefs and behaviors.
• Culture is based on symbols, which convey meaning, encompassing values, beliefs, and norms.
• Culture is integrated; a web of interconnected elements that shape a society's way of life.
• Culture is dynamic, adapting to internal and external influences over time

Dynamism

• Allows cultures to remain relevant, resilient, and responsive to an ever-changing world, while embracing new perspectives and experiences

Subcultures

• Smaller cultures within a large culture

Social Stratification

• Belief that some groups are somehow inferior to others; one's own group or the larger culture

Class

• Social category based on an individual's economic position in society

Egalitarian

• Belief emphasizing equality among people regarding rights, opportunities, and social status

Upper Class

• Exceptionally wealthy individuals who live in exclusive neighborhoods, and often gather at expensive social clubs, sending their children to the best schools
• They exercise national and global influence and power

Upper-Upper Class

• Aristocrats and high-society families with "old money"
• Wealthy individuals who live off inherited riches
• More prestigious than the lower-upper class

Lower-Upper Class

• Individuals with "new money"
• Money earned from investments, business ventures, etc.

Working/Middle Class

• People with a minimum education, mostly engaging in manual labor, with low or no prestige
• A "sandwich" class

Unskilled Workers

• Dishwashers, cashiers, maids, waitresses
• Usually underpaid with no opportunity for advancement

Skilled Workers

• Carpenters, plumbers, and electricians
• Often called blue-collar workers

Secretaries, Teachers, and Computer Technicians

• May make more money than other workers in their class
• Their jobs may involve more physical demands and have more or less risk

White-Collar Workers

• Have more money than people below them on the social ladder
• Have less money than those above them on the social ladder

Upper Middle Class

• Highly educated business and professional people with high incomes
• Jobs that include doctors, lawyers, stockbrokers, and CEOs

Lower Middle Class

• Less educated people with lower incomes
• Jobs including managers, small business owners, teachers, and secretaries

Lower Class

• Typified by poverty, homelessness, and unemployment
• Few have finished high school
• Suffer from lack of medical care, food, and adequate housing
• Media refers to them as "the underclass"

Socioeconomic Status in the Philippines

• Categories including rich, high income, upper-middle income, middle class, lower-middle class, low income, and poor.

Race as a Culture

• Socially constructed meanings assigned to perceived differences based on physical traits (e.g., skin color, facial features, hair type)

Caucasian Race

• Outdated grouping of human beings
• Populations from various regions in Europe, Western Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, North Africa, and the Horn of Africa

Mongoloid Race

• Peoples living in Asia east of the Ob River, the Caspian Sea, and the Ganges River
• Includes Eskimos in Northern America and European Finns

Negroid Race

• Outdated grouping of various people indigenous to Africa south of the Sahara Desert to the African Great Lakes

Ethnic Group

• People who identify as a distinct group based on cultural features (e.g., common origins, language, customs, beliefs)

Ethnicity

• Marker of group membership
• Can potentially be used for discrimination

Indigenous Peoples as Culture

• Groups with long-standing connections to a territory that predates colonial societies.
• Groups that were in a territory before Europeans or colonists arrived
• Are frequently called First Peoples

Native Americans

• Indigenous group

Gender as Culture

• Cultural meanings assigned to biological differences between sexes
• Functions as an organizing principle in society.

Age as Culture

• Biological fact and culturally constructed.
• Aspect of identity
• Asian cultures view aging positively because elderly are respected and cared for by children
• European cultures don't necessarily share the same view, and elders may be separated from younger generations

Generations (Years of Birth)

• Builders (1925-1945)
• Baby Boomers (1946-1964)
• Generation X (1965-1979)
• Generation Y (1980-1994)
• Generation Z (1995-2009)
• Gen Alpha(2010-2024)

Levels of Culture

• Culture operates on multiple layers contributing to the fabric of human societies
• Basic assumptions/shared values (deepest level): fundamental beliefs and values shaping perceptions
• Norms and values (middle level): explicit societal norms, standards, and collective ideals guiding behaviors. Includes individualism vs. collectivism across societies
• Artifacts and creations (surface level): physical manifestations of culture like art, language, and technology

Culture Category

• Universal: Everyone belongs to this category. Includes all human nationalities.
• Diverse beliefs, ideas, morals, and values.
• Shared by all humans, irrespective of background.

Emotions

• Happiness, sadness, and love are universally recognized.

Civilization

• Broadest level of cultural identity people obtain
• Includes ethnicity and religion

Nationality

• More narrow culture
• Determined by residence, birth, or citizenship
• Includes cultural norms, practices, and associated values

American Culture

• Focus on individual rights, freedom, and the "American Dream."

Japanese Culture

• Emphasis on respect, harmony, and group-oriented behavior

Individual Culture

• Most shaped by other culture levels

Industry

• Culture within particular sectors, such as hospitality

Organizational Culture

• In organizations, like business work ethic and how employees interact

Individual

• Most specific and unique level of culture
• Shaped by upbringing, experiences, personality, and values

Layers of Culture

• These layers represent the various dimensions that shape and define a society's way of life
• Cultural traditions, most common layer, passed down from generation to generation; distinguish a person by myth, ceremonies and rituals

Shared Language

• Traditional cultural attribute
• Learned from parents or family members

Non-national Cultures

• Share values and mental programming.
• Diverse societies with people originating from many parts of the world.
• Share cultural traits that make them unique.
• Cultural Universals (last level)
• Learned behavior collectively shared by everyone.

Values and Beliefs

• Crucial cultural elements
• Values: standard for discerning what is good and just in society
• Beliefs: convictions/opinions held by individuals in the culture

Children

• Represents innocence and purity.

Youthful Adult

• Signifies sexuality.

Attitudes

• Ways of thinking or feeling toward someone or something.

Collectivist

• Welfare of the group and group relationships are primary values

Norms

• Define how to behave according to societal standards and expectations

Formal Norms

• Established, written rules
• Behaviors worked out and agreed upon to benefit most people
• Similar to laws or employee manuals
• Most specific and clearly stated. Most strictly enforced

Informal Norms

• Learned through observation, imitation, and socialization

Cultural Norms - Continued

• Dictate acceptable behavior and interactions
• Shared beliefs about acceptable behavior
• Can exist as informal expectations or codified laws
• Examples include greetings (e.g., handshakes and kisses on the cheek).

Other Cultural Aspects

• Family structure
• Table manners
• Personal space
• Social hierarchy
• Fashion
• Religion
• Public behavior

This quiz explores the fundamental concepts of culture, its impact on communication, and the characteristics that define cultural dynamics. You will encounter questions about cultural symbols, socioeconomic classes in the Philippines, and the nature of ethnic groups. Enhance your understanding of how culture shapes society and individual interactions.