What is CULTURE?
beings as members of social groups can be
Culture (from the Latin word “cultura” stemming
from colere meaning “to cultivate”) generally refers
to patterns of human activity and the symbolic
cultures that give such activities significance and
importance.
(Culture: totality of our shared language, traditions,
knowledge, material objects and behavior)
● Culture in its broadest sense is cultivated
behavior, that is the totality of a person’s
learned, accumulated experience which is
socially transmitted or more briefly, behavior
through social learning.
● A culture is the way of life of a group of
people - the behaviors, beliefs, values and
symbols that they accept, generally without
thinking about them, and that are passed
along by communication and imitation from
one generation to the next.
● Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of
knowledge, experience, beliefs, values,
attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion,
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.
● Culture is the sum total of the learned
behavior of a group of people that are
generally considered to be the tradition of
that people and are transmitted from
generation to generation.
● Culture is a collective programming of the
mind that distinguishes the members of the
group or category of people from another.
● Culture can be defined as all the ways of life
including arts, beliefs and institutions of a
population that are passed down from
generation to generation. Culture has been
called “the way of life for art entire society”.
As such, it includes codes of manners, food,
clothes, language, religion, rituals, art,
norms of behavior, such as law and
morality, and systems of belief.
● Culture is the embodiment of the way in
which we think and do things. It is also the
things that we have inherited as members of
society. All the achievements of human
called culture. Art, music, literature,
architecture, sculpture, philosophy, religion
and science can be seen as aspects of
culture. However, culture also includes the
customs, traditions, festivals, ways of living
and one’s outlook on various issues of life.
● Culture varies from place to place and
country to country. Its development is based
on the historical process operating in a
local, regional, or national context. For
example, we differ in our ways of greeting
others, our clothing, food habits, social and
religious customs, and practices. In other
words, the people of any country are
characterized by their distinctive cultural
traditions.
KINDS OF CULTURE
Culture thus refers to a human-made environment
which includes all the material and non-material
products of group life that are transmitted from one
generation to the next. There is a general
agreement among social scientists that culture
consists of explicit and implicit patterns of behavior
acquired by human beings. These may be
transmitted through symbols, constituting the
distinctive achievements of human groups,
including their embodiment as artifacts.
TWO KINDS:
1. Material Culture - refers to the concrete and
tangible things that man creates and uses. Material
culture consists of objects that are related to the
material aspect of our life such as our dress, food,
and household goods.
2. Non-Material Culture - refers to non-material
things or intangible objects which the person uses,
follows, professes or strives to conform. It includes
knowledge, laws, lifestyles, techniques, ideas,
customs, behaviors among others.
CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE
● Culture is learned. It is not a biological
condition; we do not inherit it. Much of
learning culture is unconsciously
transmitted. Culture is transmitted to us
through our families, peers, institutions, and
the media.
● Culture is shared. We can act in socially
appropriate ways and predict how others
 will act because we share culture with other
members of our group.
● Culture is based on symbols. A symbol is
something that represents another thing.
Symbols differ and are arbitrary across
cultures. They only have meaning when
people in a culture agree on how to use
them.
● Culture is integrated. This is referred to as
holism, or the interconnectedness of
different aspects of culture.
● Culture is dynamic. This simply means
that cultures interact and change with one
another. Ideas and symbols are exchanged
because most cultures interact with other
cultures.
MODES OF ACQUIRING CULTURE
● Imitation - children and adults alike have
the tendency to imitate the values, attitudes,
language, and all other things in their social
environment.
● Indoctrination - this may take the form of
formal training or informal training. Formally,
the person learns from school. Informally,
he may acquire those behaviors from
listening or watching, reading, attending
training activities or through interaction.
● Conditioning - is a process through which
we absorb and interpret the influences,
norms and messaging from our environment
and translate them into what we believe to
be acceptable behaviors.
ADAPTATION OF CULTURE
● Cultural adaptation - is the process by
which individuals or groups conform to the
traditions or celebrations of the culture in
which they live. It is the process by which a
person adjusts his or her own way to fit or
be long in a new country or place.
● Parallelism - the same culture may take
place in two or more different places.
● Diffusion - refers to those behavioral
patterns that pass back and forth from one
culture to another.
● Convergence - when two or more culture
are fused or merged into one culture making
it different from the original culture.
● Fission - when people break away from
their original culture and start developing a
different culture of their own.
● Acculturation - individuals incorporate the
behavioral patterns of other culture into their
own either voluntary or by force.
Individual/group of one culture adopts the
values, norms and practices of another
group while still remaining their own culture.
● Assimilation - when the culture of a larger
society is adopted by a smaller society, that
small society assumes some of the culture
of the larger or host of society. You adapt to
the culture but you have the tendency to
forget your own culture.
● Accomodation - when the larger society
and smaller society can respect and tolerate
each other’s culture even if there is a
prolonged contact of each other’s culture.
Tendency in preserving culture that is nice.
● Enculturation - where an individual learns
the culture surrounding them.
● Amalgamation - blending of two/more
culture and creating a new and unique
culture.
RELATED CONCEPTS ON CULTURE
● High Culture - The pattern of cultural
experiences and attitudes found in society's
upper classes. High culture is frequently
associated with political power, wealth,
prestige, and aesthetic taste. Attending a
live musical performance, joining a golf club,
and so on. High-culture events and ways of
life can be expensive and formal.
● Popular Culture - The pattern of cultural
experiences and attitudes that exist in
mainstream society is referred to as popular
culture. Unlike high culture, popular culture
is well-known and easily accessible to most
people.
● Cultural Relativism - The belief that any
culture's behaviors and customs must be
viewed and analyzed using the culture's
own standards. One cannot judge another
person or culture because standards vary
depending on culture, time, and situation.
● Ethnocentrism - The tendency to judge
other cultures based on our own norms and
values. Ethnocentrism is the belief that
one's way of life is superior to all others.
● Ideal Culture - It includes the values and
norms that a culture claims to have. It
involves an idealized, uncompromising
value system that dictates perfect behavior.
Ideal values are absolute; they bear no
exceptions. Using ideal culture as a
standard, you are either right or wrong.
● Real Culture - It can be observed in our
social life. Real culture shows how
individuals live and act. Example: It is
commonly imagined or claimed that our joint
family system is providing care and respect
to the elderly parents (ideal culture), but
many have moved away from their parental
homes leaving their elderly parents alone
(real culture).
● Subculture - Is a category of people who
share distinguishing beliefs, values, and/or
norms that set them apart in some
significant manner from the dominant
culture. It shares in the overall culture of the
society but also maintains a distinctive set
of values, norms, lifestyles, traditions and
even a distinct language. It may reflect a
social and ethnic difference. It differs from
dominant culture but not in opposition to
that culture. a smaller cultural group within a
larger culture.
● Counterculture - A counterculture is a
group that strongly rejects dominant societal
values and norms and seeks alternative
lifestyles (Yinger, 1960, 1982). Examples:
Mafia involved in drug trafficking, Drug
abusers and addicts
● Cultural Lag - the term was coined by
William F. Ogburn, an American sociologist
in 1922. Material culture tends to develop
and advance at a faster rate than
non-material culture. A gap between the
technical development of a society (material
culture) and its moral and legal institutions
(nonmaterial culture) is cultural lag. The
term cultural lag refers to the notion that
nonmaterial culture takes time to catch up
with technological innovations, and that
social problems and conflicts are caused by
this lag.
● Culture Shock - Culture shock is a feeling
of dislocation, of being out of place in a new
culture. Culture shock is the term we use to
describe the feelings of confusion and
uncertainty that are experienced when you
encounter a culture that is vastly different
from your own. It can be commonly seen in
foreign students, immigrants, and refugees.
Suddenly, you find yourself unable to
understand, communicate, and function
effectively
● Cultural Diversity - Doherty and
Chelladurai (1999), ―Cultural diversity
reflects the unique sets of values, beliefs,
attitudes, and expectations, as well as
language, symbols, customs, and
behaviors, that an individual possess by
virtue of sharing some common
characteristic(s) with others.
COMPONENTS OF CULTURE
1. Values - Collective concept of what is good, bad,
desirable, proper, and improper and that
serve as broad guidelines for social living.
Values indicate what people find important and
morally right (or wrong)
● Respect for parents, elders
● Cleanliness
● Generosity
● Values are broad principles that support
beliefs.
● Beliefs are specific thoughts or ideas that
people hold to be true.
Ten Core Values identified by Robin M.
Williams, Jr. in the 1970’s
1. Individualism (ability, work ethic, responsibility)
2. Achievement and Success (do better in life)
3. Activity and Work (“work in play,” active lifestyle)
4. Science and Technology (expectations from…)
5. Progress and Comfort (goods, services, and
necessities)
6. Efficiency and Practicality (bigger, better, faster
things)
7. Equality (class equality and opportunity)
8. Morality and Humanitarianism (aiding others in
need)
9. Freedom and Liberty (self-explanatory)
10. Racism and Superiority (value group above
others)
2. Norms - rules developed by a group of people
that specify how people must, should, may,
should not and must not behave in various
situations. These are rules and expectations by
which a society guides the behavior of its
members.
Two Aspects of Norms
1. PROSCRIPTIVE
• should not and must not; prohibited
• Laws that prohibit us from driving
over the speed limit
2. PRESCRIPTIVE
• must, should, may; prescribed like
medicine
• Persons making a certain amount
of money are expected to file a tax
return and pay any taxes they owe.
Forms of Norms and must not behave in various situations. Forms:
1. Folkways - are informal norms or everyday Folkways, Mores
customs that may be violated without serious Symbols - A symbol is an object, word, or action
consequences within a particular culture.Norms of that stands for something else.
routine or casual interaction. Language - a system of words and symbols used
2. Mores - (pronounced MOR-ays). Mores norms to communicate with other people.
that are widely observed and have great moral
significance. Often breaking norms lead to being
outcast or imprisonment (ex. Incest, rape, murder)
are strict norms that control moral and ethical
behavior.
• Laws are formal, standardized norms that have
been enacted by legislatures and are enforced by
formal sanctions. These are written codes that
control the behavior of people; Laws may be either
civil or criminal. Civil law deals with disputes among
persons or groups while Criminal law deals with
public safety and wellbeing.
Taboos are mores specifying what actions are
prohibited in a culture. Taboos are mores so strong
that their violation is extremely offensive and even
unmentionable.
• Taboo meaning a culture absolutely forbids them.
• Eating human flesh - cannibalism
• Incest
3. Symbols - A symbol is an object, word, or action
that stands for something else.It is anything that
carries a particular meaning recognized by people
who share a culture (a flag, a word, a flashing red
light, a raised fist, an animal etc). It help us
communicate ideas. A siren is a symbol that
denotes an emergency and sends the message to
clear the way immediately. It means different things
to different people, which is why it is impossible to
hypothesize how a specific culture will symbolize
something. In European culture the color black has
come to symbolize death and is worn at funerals. In
other cultures, Asian for example, white often
symbolizes death and is worn at funerals.
Non-verbal gestures can be very “symbolic” and
diverse.
4. Language - Culture is the social heritage of the
humans that is transmitted to the future generation
mainly through language. It is a system of words
and symbols used to communicate with other
people. It is a set of symbols that expresses ideas
and enables people to think and communicate with
one another.It helps us describe reality.
Verbal (spoken) language and nonverbal (written or
gestured)

Key Takeways
Values - Collective concept of what is good, bad,
desirable, proper, and improper and that serve as
broad guidelines for social living.
Norms - rules developed by a group of people that
specify how people must, should, may, should not