Major Types of Components of Culture

1. Material Culture

includes physical objects or artifacts things that human beings create by

altering the natural environment.
It refers to the concrete and tangible things that man creates and uses.

2. Non-Material Culture

consists of words people use, the habits they follow, the ideas, customs,
behavior, of any society profess and to which they strive to conform.
It is the meaning and substance inherent in culture.

A. Norms- These are guides or models of behavior which tell us what is proper and
which are not, appropriate or inappropriate, right or wrong. Norms regulate peoples
behavior in a given society.
- Norms are usually in the form of rules, standards, or prescriptions and
socially shared expectations. Some norms apply to everyone. Other norms apply to
particular categories of people who assume certain roles.
- Norms define the proper way of behaving.
Two Types of Norms
1.

Ideal Norm- norm expected to exist

2.

Real Norm- norm actually existing

- One way sociologists classify norms is on the basis of the degree of disapproval
that results when they are violated. Norms vary from society to society or from group
to group within a society.
Sanctions- Socially imposed reward and punishment

Informal Sanctions
Reward- favorable public opinion; giving friendship; praise

Punishment- ridicule; gossip; embarrassment; withdrawing of friendship and

affection

Formal Sanctions
Reward- getting high grades, awards in school; promotion;/salary increase; medals
of honor
Punishment- failing grades in school; demotion; removal from office; fine;
imprisonment/death penalty.

Forms of Norms
1. Folkways- are customary patterns of everyday life that specify what is socially
correct and proper in everyday life. They are repetitive or the typical habits and
patterns of expected behavior followed within a group of community. They are the
general rules, customary and habitual ways and patterns of expected within a
society.
- they are rigidly enforced but the sanctions in violating the
folkways are mild.
2. Mores- are special folkways which are important to the welfare of the people and
their cherished values. They embody the code of ethics and standards of morality.
They are based on ethical and moral values which are strongly held and
emphasized.
- thou shall not; taboos
-the observance is compulsive and violation of mores is regarded
as immoral and sinful.
3. Laws- are formalized social norms, enacted by people who are vested with
governmental power and enforced by political and legal authorities designated by
the government. Some of the laws grew out of the folkways and mores (legalized
mores).

B.Fashions, fads, crazes- They are more short-lived social norms which demand
compliance at the time they operate.
they are powerful determinant of behavior; the prestige and status of a
person depend on his or her use of these new styles.

Characteristics of Culture
1. Culture is learned and acquired- Culture is not instinctive. It is acquired by each
person through the senses and experience. No one is born equipped with a
particular language, or a knowledge of religious beliefs.

C. Language- It refers to a system of symbols that have specific and arbitrary

meaning in a given society.
- the key factor in human races success in creating and preserving culture. It
is the symbolic communication or language that sets human beings apart from other
species.

D. Values- represent the standards we use to evaluate the desirability of things.

Values define what is important and worthwhile.
These values are the basis of our judgment, of what we consider good, desirable,
and correct as well as what is considered bad, undesirable, ugly and wrong.
- every culture has a basic set of values which make up its core.

2. Culture is transmitted from generation to generation- The survival of a society

requires that the people provide means by which their culture can be learned and
transmitted from one generation to the next.

3. Culture is a group-product- it is conceptualized by not only one person.

4. Culture is adaptive- Culture changes over time, and the changes are
adjustments to the prevailing environment. It is adaptive with respect to specific
physical and social environment.

In a study a bout Filipino values, Jaime Bulatao, SJ, discovered the following values
held highly by the Filipinos.
5. Culture is relative- it varies from one society to another.
1. Emotional closeness and security in the family. It provides understanding,
acceptance, a place where, no matter how far or how wrongly one has wandered, he
can always return to his family.
2. The authority value.- This refers to the approval by the authority figure; Filipino
family places high authority on the elders.
3. Economic and social betterment- It appears most often as a desire to raise the
standard of living of ones family or of ones hometown, often as a repayment for
ones debt of gratitude (utang na loob) to parents and relatives.

Modes of Acquiring Culture

1.Imitation- the process of imitation becomes possible because of the examples set
by the social environment. (family members).
2.Indoctrination-this may take the form of formal teaching which may take place
anywhere the individual finds himself interacting with hif fellow humans (school;
church).
3. Conditioning- this process is further reinforced by a system of reward and
punishment found in the cultural system.
Ethnocentrism- the members of society have the tendency to regard its culture as
the best and superior than that of other groups.

Reasons for existence:

1.

promote unity

2.

protection from change

Xenocentrism- the people regard its own culture as inferior to that of other groups.
Culture Shock-it happens when a person has internalized his own culture.

-it occurs when a person loses familiar symbols and signs of his culture
and he goes through unpleasant and frustrating experience.

Enculturation- the learning of ones own culture

Acculturation-the learning of another culture after learning your own.