Chapter 3 Vocab Flashcards
(30 cards)
Culture
The entire way of life of a group of people (including both material and symbolic elements) that acts as a lens through which one views the world and that is passed from one generation to the next (71)
Culture Shock
A sense of disorientation that occurs when entering a radically new social or cultural environment (72)
Ethnocentrism
The principle of using one’s own culture as a means or standard by which to evaluate another group or individual, leading to the view that cultures other than one’s own are abnormal or inferior (72)
Cultural Relativism
The principle of understanding other cultures on their own terms, rather than judging or evaluating according to one’s own culture (72)
Material Culture
The objects associated with a cultural group, such as tools, machines, utensils, buildings, and artwork; any physical object to which we give social meaning (73)
Symbolic Culture
The ideas associated with a cultural group, including ways of thinking (beliefs, values, and assumptions) and ways of behaving (norms, interactions, and communication) (73)
Signs
Symbols that stand for or convey an idea (74)
Gestures
The ways in which people use their bodies to communicate without words; actions that have symbolic meaning (74)
Language
A system of communication using vocal sounds, gestures, or written symbols; the basis of symbolic culture and the primary means through which we communicate with one another and perpetuate our culture (75)
Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
The idea that language structures thought and that ways of looking at the world are embedded in language (75)
Values
Ideas about what is right or wrong, good or bad, desirable or worthy in a particular group; they express what the group cherishes and honors (76)
Norms
Rules or guidelines regarding what kinds of behavior are acceptable and appropriate within a particular culture; these typically emanate from the group’s values (76)
Laws
Types of norms that are formally codified to provide an explicit statement about what is permissible or forbidden, legal or illegal in a given society (76)
Folkways
Loosely enforced norms involving common customs, practices, or procedures that ensure smooth social interaction and acceptance (76)
Mores
Norms that carry great moral significance, are closely related to the core values of a cultural group, and often involve severe repercussions for violators (78)
Taboo
A norm ingrained so deeply that even thinking about violating it evokes strong feelings of disgust, horror, or revulsion (78)
Moral Holiday
A specified time period during which some norm violations are allowed (78)
Sanctions
Positive or negative reactions to the ways that people follow or disobey norms, including rewards for conformity and punishments for violations (78)
Social Control
The formal and informal mechanisms used to elicit conformity to values and norms and thus promote social cohesion (78)
Multiculturalism
A policy that values diverse racial, ethnic, national, and linguistic backgrounds and so encourages the retention of cultural differences within the larger society (81)
Dominant Culture
The values, norms, and practices of the group within society that is most powerful (in terms of wealth, prestige, status, influence, etc.) (81)
Hegemony
Term developed by Antonio Gramsci to describe the cultural aspects of social control, whereby the ideas of the dominant group are accepted by all (81)
Subculture
A group within society that is differentiated by its distinctive values, norms, and lifestyle (81)
Counterculture
A group within society that openly rejects or actively opposes society’s values and norms (81)
