Understanding Culture: Anthropology Concepts

The Concept of Culture

• Central to Anthropology
• Refers to all the features of a society's ways of life
• The capacity to make culture differentiates humankind from nonhumans

Culture vs. Society

• Society refers to the social world with its structures, institutions, etc, specifically to a group within a bounded territory sharing a common way of life
• Culture is the common way of life shared by a group of people

Edward B. Tylor's Definition of Culture

• Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society

Enculturation

• The process by which an individual learns the rules and values of one's culture

Misconceptions about Culture

• It is a misconception that some people are more "cultured" than others
• "Culture" is associated with colorful customs, clothes, foods, dancing, music, etc.

Aspects/Elements of Culture

• Material culture: Physical substance changed and used by man, including mechanical and utilitarian objects
• Non-material culture consists of ways of acting, feeling, and thinking such as greetings, customs, respect, etc.

Aspects of Non-Material Culture

• Values are a central aspect, influencing the behavior of society members
• Values are the standards by which society defines what is good or bad, beautiful or ugly
• Beliefs are cultural conventions concerning true or false assumptions and include descriptions of the universe and humanity's place

Norms

• Shared rules or guidelines defining how people should behave under certain circumstances, connected to values and beliefs
• Folkways are norms are not strictly enforced, resulting in a bad look if violated.
• Mores are much stronger norms, essential to core values; violating them leads to severe punishment

Main Features of Culture

• Culture is all-encompassing, affecting people's daily lives with its material and non-material aspects
• The complex pattern of living directs social life and is learned by new generations
• All human societies of the world have cultures
• There are as many specific cultures as diverse peoples

Social Learning of Culture

• Culture is acquired through learning or interacting with one's environment, not genetically
• Culture is learned through social interaction, and learned behavior is communicated through socialization
• Methods of socialization include observation, instruction, reward, punishment, and experience

Ways of Learning

• Individual situation learning: Learning from specific situations independently
• Social situational learning: Learning through imitation within a group
• Cultural learning: Uniquely human, using intelligence and communication with symbolic meanings

Culture as Symbolic

• The way of thinking is unique and crucial to culture and to humans
• A symbol is can be verbal or nonverbal, standing for something else within a culture or language
• Symbols denote shared meanings for communication

Culture Seizes Nature

• Culture imposes on nature, overpowering biological instincts
• Cultural values and norms determine the type, frequency, and manner of food consumption

Culture is Shared

• Culture calls for shared behavior and thinking within a group
• Shared culture causes common experiences in behaving, feeling, and creating habits
• Effective society operation depends on shared guidelines

Patterned Culture

• Cultures are integrated, patterned systems, not disorganized customs
• Culture is an integrated whole, its parts interrelated
• A single cultural trait is defined by it's integrated context
• Agriculture is an example of one aspect of culture; change in one aspect will likely generate changes in another aspects

Creativity in Culture

• There are different cultures in both ideal and real terms
• What cultural rules say and what people do may be different, however culture is used creatively everyday

Adaptive vs Maladaptive

• People adapt through culture, and the ability to adapt to ecological conditions makes humans unique
• Cultural creations may threaten survival through overconsumption and pollution

Dynamic Culture

• Culture is stable and yet still changes over time
• It remains stable in regards to important values being passed on
• When culture comes into contact with other cultures it can change with the spread of cultural traits from one to the other

Ethnocentrism

• Taking one's own culture and ways of life as the best and the center of all
• Regarding other ethnic groups and cultures as inferior, bad, or full of errors
• Applying one's own cultural values in judging the behaviors and beliefs of others

Cultural Relativism

• Cultural relativism is the act of suspending judgment of another groups way of life
• The study of a culture must happen in regard to it's own values and meanings
• With the practice of cultural relativism comes the sign of respect for cultural differences

Components of Culture

• Cultural traits (elements) are the smallest units that make up a certain culture
• Cultural traits are the building blocks of culture
• These can be material (pen, car etc) or nonmaterial (greeting, respect, etc.)
• Cultural traits function together to form a meaningful whole called a culture complex
• Culture complexes come together to form a pattern for cultural society

Culture Region

• The geographical territory in which a particular culture prevails
• Marked by the characteristics of a culture, including modes of dress, building styles, and fields

Levels of Culture

Subcultures

• Describe the variability of culture within a certain society
• Subculture is a group within a society sharing characteristics and culture

National Culture

• Experiences, ideologies, beliefs and values shared by citizens of the same nation.
• National couture refers to dominant or mainstream cultures

International Culture

• Cultural traditions that extend beyond borders by diffusion or assimilation

Cultural Universals

• Anthropology considers that all human beings are alike fundamentally and show the same characteristics

Biological Cultural Unviersals

• Long infant dependency, year-round sexuality, and complex brains enabling use of symbolic language

Psychological Cultural Universals

• Universal for human development such as experiences in the womb, birth, and parent interactions

Social Cultural Unviersals

• Life in groups, family, food sharing, incest taboo, exogamy

Generalized Cultures

• Regularities in different places or times that do not encompass all cultures
• Cultural generalities can be diffused or created independently

Localized Cultures

• Cultural traditions are specific to just a few societies
• Examples of these are practices such as same-sex marriage, eating raw meat, etc.

Culture Shock

• The psychological and social maladjustment experienced upon encountering new cultural element
• Cultural relativists have been found to have an easy to adapt

Language and Culture

• Vital to cultural cohesion and national identity
• Human possession and capacity, and a key element of culture
• Culture encompasses language, and language transmits culture

Culture's Influence on Behavior

• Public and individual, in the world and in minds
• Individuals internalize and interact with the meaning of social messages impacting behavioral patterns