CULTURE

In most Western languages culture means ‘civilization’ or

‘refinement of the mind’.

Culture covers patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting.

Example: greeting, showing or not showing feelings, keeping a
certain distance from others, maintaning body hygiene.
• Culture consists of the unwritten rules of the social game.

• Culture is learned, not innate.

The Onion: Manifestation of Culture at Different Levels of
Depth
Symbols: words, gestures, pictures, or objects that carry a
particular meaning only recognized by those who share the
culture.
Heroes: persons, alive or dead, real or imaginary, who possess
characteristics that are highly prized in a culture and thus
serve as models.
Example: Barbie, Batman, Snoopy in U.S, Asterix in France
Rituals: Collective activities, which within a culture are
considered as socially essentail.
Example: social and religious ceremonies
Business and political meetings organized for seemingly
rational reasons often serve ritual purposes (reinforcing
group cohesion, allowing the leaders to assert themselves.)
Values: Core of culture is formed by values
Broad tendencies to prefer certain states of affairs over
others. Values are feelings with an arrow to it: a plus and a
minus side.
They deal with:
Evil versus good
Dirty versus clean
Dangerous versus safe
Forbidden versus permitted
Moral versus immoral
Ugly versus beautiful
Abnormal versus normal
Unnatural versus natural
Irrational versus rational
Values are acquired early in our lives.

Because they were acquired so early in our lives, many values

remain unconscious to those who hold them.Therefore they
cannot be discussed , nor can they be directly observed by
outsiders.