MODULE 2.

COMPONENTS OF CULTURE

OVERVIEW

There are several components of culture, culture is a holistic concept made up of intricately
connected parts or elements; these elements are unified in order for the aspects of culture to function
effectively. The ways of behaving, patterns of responses, modes of thinking and feeling in a particular
situation are defined by the members of society who learn, share, interpret, and redefine these ways
and patterns.

Learning Outcome

At the end of this module, the student should be able to:

1. Differentiate each component of culture

2. Identify how each component contribute to culture
3. Explain how each component affect an individual

DISCUSSION

COMPONENTS OF CULTURE

A. Social Norms - are authoritative standard; a principle of right acti0n binding upon the
members of a group and serving to guide, control, or regulate proper and acceptable behaviour.
Example: To have a partner and have a family , the accepted norm is find someone and marry
that person before you have children.

B. Beliefs – represent the idea of how man thinks reality is “real”. Example: you have to make a
lot of noise during new year to drive away the evil spirit, and you need to prepare twelve kinds
of round fruits during new year to represent each month of the coming year being financial
successful.:

C. Knowledge – There are three kinds of knowledge; there is the kind of knowledge you have
when you know how to do something . example you know how to drive a car. There is a kind
of knowledge when it is truly said of you that you know a person, example: your best friend.
There is a kind of knowledge you have that you know that some facts are true. What we
consider or perceive today may not apply to be true tomorrow. Knowledge could change and
is subjected to test of time. Cultural knowledge may include the natural, supernatural,
technical, and magical knowledge.

D. Folkways – are often referred to as “customs” they are standards of behaviour that are socially
approved but not morally significant. Example: at home you may eat using your hands but
outside the home you use spoon and fork. During new year or Christmas, it is a custom that the
whole family gather for a reunion.

E. Mores – are strict norms that control moral and ethical behaviour . Mores are norms based on
definitions of right and wrong. Unlike folkways, mores are morally significant. Example:
Religious practices, for example you have to go to church, your attire should be appropriate
 for the place. The Filipino Christians are monogamous, they should only have one partner at
one time.

F. Laws - are strict guidelines, drafted and enacted by people who are given power to govern in
one form or another –democratic, authoritarian and others. Laws are implemented through
formalized sanctions like community service, reprimand, fines, imprisonment, physical beating
imprisonment or even death. There is a law against abuse of women and children in the
Philippines.

G. Ideology – is a system of ideas, which attempts to explain reality. Ideologies are developed
because reality is often too complex to understand. There is a kind of ideology where they
believe everything is owned by the state and the people have to follow the state.

ACTIVITY For each component, give three examples to show how they affect culture

Example: We have different kinds of laws with corresponding punishments when one violates
a particular law. Legitimate children should carry the family name of their father, however,
illegitimate children (meaning children whose parents are not married with each other) cannot carry
the family name of their father unless the father allows it.

In the Philippines there is no divorce but there is annulment. Divorce occurs when a couple
decide that they don’t want to live together and would like to go separate ways and marry another
person. In annulment a person has to prove that there is something wrong in their marriage from the
beginning, example, they pretended to be of legal age when they got married when actually they
were minors. They can be granted annulment and go separate ways, they have a chance to marry
another person.

In the United States, once you are born there you automatically become a US citizen while in
the Philippines, if you are a foreigner born in the Philippines you still carry the citizenship of your
parents

This is due Monday, Feb . 1., 2021, you send it in PDF file at wcc_lhidalgo@yahoo.com.

Warning: Never copy from the work of others. If I find activities which are exactly the same like
photocopies. Both will get zero. I will not ask who copied or who allowed to be copied.