ASPECTS OF CULTURE AND SOCIETY II

(Learned Through Socialization/Enculturation, and Transmitted Through Socialization)

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

 define socialization and enculturation,
 discuss the different agents of socialization,
 identify aspects of culture and society,
 prove that culture is learned and transmitted through socialization or enculturation, and
 raise questions toward a holistic appreciation of cultures and societies.

Recall the very first person you interacted with. Do you think he or she affected the
development of your personality?

Aspects of Culture
There are different aspects of culture such as art, music, language, food, daily life,
clothing, and religion.

Dynamic, Flexible, and Adaptive

Culture constantly changes and adapts to the current state of society. It continuously
restores itself whenever customs do not fit in the current situation anymore. It does not remain
stagnant.

Shared and Contested

 Culture is learned and acquired through different interactions with people. Culture is a
shared learning experience. Because culture constantly changes, we get to share the
learning process with other people.

Socialization and Enculturation

Society is different from culture. Within a society are many diverse cultures. While the
members of society share many of the same expectations and experiences, the cultural groups
create some that differentiate them from others in the community.

Socialization
Socialization is the process through which people learn to understand societal norms or
expectations and societal values as members of society.

Enculturation
 Enculturation is the process by which an individual adopts the the behavior patterns of
the culture in which a person is immersed in.

Agents of Socialization
There are different agents of socialization the family, community, mass media, and
religion.
Family
 The family is the first social group that we all have. It is considered as the most
important social group that a person has. It is also the principal agent of socialization.
 We first start to learn things with the help of our parents and family. They are the main
source of our traits and behaviors, the values, norms, or rules that we follow, and the
ideas we initially believe in.

Handout in Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics

 Community
 Outside our homes, we get to interact with people and institutions from our community.
One of them is the school. In schools, we become exposed to ideas, values, norms, and
behaviors that may be different from what we learn from our family.
 We also get to interact with other people from our community who become our peers.
Research shows that since children and teenagers spend most of their time with peers,
peer groups can create youth sub-culture (Mondal, 2015).
 Our peers can also influence us with the different norms, values, and behaviors that they
got from their families.

Mass Media
 One of the biggest influences in our culture is mass media which come in the form of
television, movies, books, magazines, and social networking sites. Mass media plays a
major role in shaping the culture and behavior of an individual (Mondal, 2015).
 Unfortunately, both good and bad behaviors can be learned through mass media. It is
important that the youth remain supervised whenever they are accessing all forms of
media.

Religion
Another social agent is religion. Through the family, one is immediately exposed to the
teachings of religion. It helps shape and equip individuals with the attitudes and
behaviors that are deemed appropriate.

Aspects of Culture
We have learned that culture is dynamic, flexible, and adaptive. It is also shared and
contested in various ways and situations.
Aside from these characteristics, there are also other aspects of culture as discussed below.

LEARNED THROUGH SOCIALIZATION OR ENCULTURATION

Socialization is an ongoing process of learning languages, behaviors, customs, values,
norms to acquire a personal identity. It helps us learn culture. Socialization also allows us to
interact with others and helps us develop the behaviors that we think are inborn or part of
human nature. It is an essential part of building our character and preserving, spreading, and
strengthening our culture.
Another way of learning other cultures is called enculturation. For example, your friend
migrated to America with her family. You noticed on her Facebook that after three months of
being in America, she started to act and look differently, and she is using some slang words you
only hear Americans say. This is the process of enculturation. Your friend is slowly starting to
adapt to the American culture because it is necessary so she would fit in.

TRANSMITTED THROUGH SOCIALIZATION OR ENCULTURATION

Culture can also be transmitted from one person to another, and even from one society to
another. One good example of this is the transmission of a culture of the Spanish to the Filipinos
during the Spanish colonization. The transfer of Spanish culture to the Filipinos is done through
both socialization and enculturation. We learned their culture by socializing with them through
the church and the schools they established.

Handout in Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics

Explore!
Do you notice that when you stay at one place for a period of time, you unknowingly
learn some of its culture?
For example, you went to Vigan during your summer break. After two weeks, you start to
understand their dialect, Ilocano, and speak a little of it. Can you explain why?

Try it!
Try observing a culture different from yours. Try exploring the culture of a classmate that comes
from a different province or has a different religion.
What do you think?
Do you think social media significantly affects and influences our culture nowadays?

Tips
 The people or groups you socialize with will greatly affect your behavior because you
learn most of it from them.
 Socialization begins during childhood, right after a person is born. The first group that
teaches about socialization is the family.
 Throughout your life, you will get to interact with a lot of different people from different
cultures. You will learn different behaviors, norms, or values from them. It is up to you to
identify what you will keep or practice and what you will reject.
 Not all acquired behaviors are helpful. Some learned behaviors can be destructive in the
long run.

Key points
 Enculturation is the process of adopting the behavior patterns of the culture in which a
person is immersed in.
 Socialization is an ongoing process of learning languages, behaviors, customs, values,
or norms to acquire a personal identity.
 There are different agents of socialization that aid in acquiring and learning a specific
culture. These include the family, school, peer groups, mass media, and religion.
 Culture is dynamic, flexible, and adaptive. It is also shared and contested in
various ways and situations.
 Culture is learned and transmitted through socialization and enculturation.

Handout in Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics