What is Culture?

- Basics in Sociology

Language, Beliefs, Values, Norms, Behavior

Passed from One Generation to the Next

Material Jewelry, art, buildings, etc.

Nonmaterial Cultures beliefs, values, etc.

Story in Ampleforth unfamiliar territory and
universal norms
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Ampleforth

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Ampleforth Spring

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Ampleforth Orchards

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Researchers Accommodation

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 Different?

Same?

Both?
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Universal Values?

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Stereotypes and Humor Material

Heaven Vs Hell
Elephants across cultures
Allowed | Prohibited
War
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Definition
Culture: The deposit of knowledge,
experience, beliefs, values, attitudes,
meanings, hierarchies, notions of time, roles,
spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and
material objects and possessions acquired by
a group of people in the course of generations
through individual and group striving
(Samovar & Porter, 2003, p. 8)

Definition (Cont.)
An historically transmitted pattern of
meaning embodied in symbols, a system of
inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic
forms (Geertz, 1973, p. 89)
The term culture usually is reserved to refer
to the systems of knowledge used by
relatively large numbers of people *i.e.,
national groups] (Gudykunst & Kim, 2003, p.
17)

Definition (Cont.)
Culture is simply a way of talking about
collective identities (Kuper, 1999, p. 3)
All people are the same, its only their habits,
that are different. Confucius

Culture and Taken-for-Granted

Orientations
Using your sociological imagination in culture
Meeting someone new and seeing the effects of a much different
culture

Internalization of our norms eye contact, space, etc.

Culture Shock When your material and non-material fail
you. The eerie feeling is culture shock. Ex. Pushing
Ethnocentrism Culture within us - Positive/Negative

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Practicing Cultural Relativism

Understanding cultures on their own terms
Not seeing the culture as inferior or superior
None of us can be entirely successful at practicing
cultural relativism. Strange foods.
Evaluation through our lens.
Sick Cultures Robert Edgerton - Lack of
enhancement in our lives
Confronting Contrasting Views of Reality
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Components of Symbolic Culture or

Non-Material Culture
Symbol something to which people attach meaning

and that they use to communicate

Gestures
Using ones body to convey messages without words
Gestures meaning differ among cultures
Can Lead to Misunderstandings
Left handed Americans
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Components of Symbolic
Culture
Language
Because written language lacks subtle cues,
Emoticons online use
Provides social or shared past
Provides social or shared future
Allows shared perspective
Allows complex, shared, goal-directed behavior
Like Gestures the same sound in one culture is
entirely different in another
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Emoticons - Mike Jones Microsoft Programmer

:-)

Smile

;-)

Smile with a
wink

:<})

User with
mustache,
smiling

:-||

Mad

:-))

Really happy

:-D

Big grin

:-*

A kiss

:' -(

Crying

:-P~

A lick

:-P

Sticking out
your tongue

=8O

Bug-eyed with
:-~~~
fright

Drooling

=:O

Frightened
(hair standing
on end)

User sports a
mohawk and
admires Mr. T

-:-)

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Language and Perception:

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Language has embedded within it ways of
looking at the world
Sapir-Whorf reverses common sense
It is our language that determines our
consciousness
Language both reflects and shapes cultural
experiences
Dry fruits, apricots,
apples or almonds, nuts?
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Values, Norms, and Sanctions

Values - What is desirable in life
The standards at which we determine what is good or
bad. Education, time is money, technology.

Norms - Expectations or rules for behavior

Should Do
Expectations in our societies
Behaviour in religious gatherings.

Sanctions - Reaction to following or breaking norms

Positive Sanctions

Negative Sanctions

Moral Holidays
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Folkways and Mores

Folkways - Norms not strictly enforced. Line between
right and rude. Customs
Walking on the right side of the sidewalk
Holding a door
Not belching and burping.

Mores - Core Values: We insist on conformity. Drug

use or extreme dress style. Marriage - no bfs and gfs.
Taboo Most extreme more. Extreme disgust. For
example, Abortion, Giving an even number flowers in
Russia.
Law - Norm written
down, Enforced. Theft, murder,21
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Values in U.S. Society. Are ours

different?
Achievement
and Success

Progress

Equality

Individualism

Material
Comfort

Racism and
Group
Superiority

Activity and
Work

Humanitarianism

Education

Efficiency and
Practicality

Freedom

Religiosity

Science and
Technology

Democracy

Romantic Love

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Subcultures and
Countercultures
Subculture - A World Within the Dominant Culture
Example Engineering Society.
Tens of thousands of subcultures
Some broad Some specific
Countercultures - Groups With Norms and Values at
Odds With the Dominant Culture
Survivalists -a person who anticipates and prepares
for a future disruption
Enthusiasts v. Gangs

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Values Clusters,
Contradictions, and
Social Change

Value Clusters values that together form a larger whole

Hard work, education, efficiency, material comfort, and individualism

are bound together

Value Contradiction to follow the one means that you will

come in conflict with another. Freedom, democracy applied
only to some groups. Women's Liberation, Racism, Sexism
It is precisely at the point of value contradictions, then, that one
can see a major force for social change in a society.
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Emerging Values
Leisure
Luxury Cruises

Self-fulfillment
Self help movement

Physical Fitness
Fitness centers

Youthfulness
Plastic surgeries

Concern for the Environment

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Values and Culture

Culture Wars: When Values Clash
A student going abroad!

Value as Blinders What is attainable?

Ideal vs. Real Culture
Norms, values etc. that the group sees as ideal
However most people dont reach these ideals,
this is what sociologist call Real
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Cultural Universals
Some Activities are Universal - Courtship,
Marriage, Funerals, Games.

No universal way of doing any of them.

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Sociobiology
Controversial View of Human Behavior
Biology Cause of Human Behavior
Charles Darwin and Natural Selection
Sociologists and Biologists on Opposite

Sides
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Technology in the
Global Village
The New Technology - New Tools
Cultural Lag and Cultural Change

Technology and Cultural Leveling

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Culturally Based Differences in

Management Style: Stereotypes
United States

Emotional,
egalitarians
China

Low-profile,
tough

Germany

Technically expert,
authoritarians

negotiators

Japan

Formal,
consensus
seekers

France

Elitist,
authoritarians

Multicultural Managers and

Organizations
The Multicultural Manager
Has the skills and attitudes to relate effectively to and
motivate people across race, gender, age, social attitudes,
and lifestyles. Respects and values the cultural differences.
Has the ability (e.g., is bilingual) to conduct business in a
diverse, international environment.
Has a cultural sensitivity in being aware and interested in why
people of other culture act as they do.
Is not parochial in assuming that the ways of ones culture are
the only ways things should be done.
Is not ethnocentric in assuming that the superiority of ones
culture over that of another culture.

Protocol Dos and Donts in Several Countries

Great Britain

DO say please and thank you often.

DO arrive promptly.

DONT ask personal questions because the British protect their privacy.

DONT gossip about British royalty

France

DO shake hands when greeting.

DO dress more formally than in the United States. Elegant dress is highly valued.

DONT expect to complete any work during the French two

hour

DONT chew gum in a work setting.

lunch

Italy

DO write business correspondence in Italian for priority attention.

DO make appointments between 10:00 and 11:00 or after 3:00.

DONT eat too much pasta, as it is not the main course.

DONT handout business cards too freely. Italians use them infrequently.

Protocol Dos and Donts in Several Countries

Greece

DO distribute business cards freely so people will know how to spell your name.

DO be prompt even if your hosts are not.

DONT expect to meet deadlines. A project takes as long as theGreeks think is

necessary.

DONT address people by formal or professional titles. The Greeks want more informality.

Japan

DO present your business cards with both hands and a slight bow as a gesture of

respect.

DO present gifts, American-made and wrapped

.

DONT knock competitors.

DONT present the same gift to everyone, unless all members are the same organizational

rank.

Short Activity
What are the protocol Dos and Donts in our
society?
Quickly make a list of Dos and Donts in the
areas of:

Gifts
Social Gatherings
Time Management
Competition
Formal/Informal dressing at workplace
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Multicultural Organizations
The Multicultural Organization
Values cultural diversity and is willing to
encourage and even capitalize on
such diversity.

Benefits of a Multicultural
Organization
Achieves the benefits of valuing diversity.
Avoids the problems of not managing
for diversity:
increased turnover
interpersonal conflict
communication breakdowns

Barriers to Good Cross-Cultural Relations

Perceptual expectations
Predispositions about the appropriate appearance and
physical characteristics of individuals.

Ethnocentrism
A belief that ones culture is the best and judging other
cultures by how closely they resemble ones own
culture.

Intergroup rather than interpersonal relations

Stereotyping individuals based on their group
membership

Stereotypes in intergroup relations

Assuming an individuals personal characteristics based
on their group membership.

Cross-Cultural Processes:
Motivation
In order to use motivational concepts across cultures,
managers must know two key factors:
Which needs the people are seeking to satisfy.
Which rewards will satisfy those needs.

Research findings:
A motivational concept that
has a good cultural fit with
a culture can be
successfully applied
to that culture.