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Sociology > Culture > Flashcards

Culture Flashcards

(55 cards)

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1
Q

Culture

A

beliefs, values, behavior, and material objects that form a person’s way of life

determines how we view world

traditions we inherit and pass on

Totality of our shared language, knowledge, material objects, and behavior

Shared way of life

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2
Q

Society

A

the structure of relationships within which culture is created and shared through regularized patterns of social interaction

provides context within which our relationships with the external world develop

how we structure society constrains the kind of culture we construct

cultural preferences vary across societies

the organized interaction of people in a nation or within some other boundary

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3
Q

Human Culture

A

only humans depend on culture rather than instincts to ensure survival

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4
Q

Nation

A

political entity

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5
Q

Multicultural

A

people follow various ways of life that blend and sometimes clash

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6
Q

Components of Culture

A

Symbols

Language

Values and Beliefs

Norms

Material Culture

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7
Q

Symbols

A

anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by people who share culture

meaning of same symbol can vary society to society, within a society, and over time

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8
Q

Language

A

system of symbols that allows people to communicate

written/spoken/both

cultural transmission

Sapir-Whorf Thesis

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9
Q

Cultural Transmission

A

process by which one generation passes culture to the next

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10
Q

Sapir-Whorf Thesis

A

people perceive the world through the cultural lens of language

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11
Q

Values

A

cultural standards by which people judge desirability, goodness, and beauty

serve as broad guidelines for social living

broad principles that underline beliefs

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12
Q

Beliefs

A

specific statements that people hold to be true

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13
Q

Norms

A

rules and expectations by which a society guides the behavior of its members

Proscriptive and Prescriptive

Formal Norms

Informal Norms

Mores

Folkways

Sanctions

Cultural Ideals

Real Culture

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14
Q

Proscriptive

A

prohibiting

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15
Q

Prescriptive

A

allowing

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16
Q

Formal Norms

A

express values as laws and regulations whose violation is strictly punished or enforced

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17
Q

Informal Norms

A

generally understood but which may be loosely defined

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18
Q

Mores

A

what is morally accepted

right vs wrong

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19
Q

Folkways

A

norms that govern everyday behaviors

right vs rude

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20
Q

Sanctions

A

central mechanism of social control

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21
Q

Social Control

A

encourages conformity

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22
Q

Cultural Ideals

A

social patterns mandated by culturally valued norms

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23
Q

Real Culture

Study These Flashcards
A

actual social patterns that only approximate cultural expectations

24
Q

Material Culture

Study These Flashcards
A

reflects a society’s values and technology

25
Technology
knowledge that people apply to the task of living in their surroundings
26
Non-Material Culture
reflects beliefs, values, concepts, customs
27
Types of Cultures
High Culture Popular Culture Subculture Counterculture
28
High Culture
patterns that distinguish a society's elite
29
Popular Culture
designates cultural patterns that are widespread among a society's population
30
Subculture
distinguish some segment of a society's population involve not only difference but also hierarchy
31
Counterculture
patterns that strongly oppose those widely accepted within a society reject many standards of dominant culture
32
Multi-Culturalism
recognizes cultural diversity & promoting the equality of all cultural traditions US most multicultural industrial country Japan most monocultural
33
Language Diversity
US 21.6% of people over the age of 5 speak a language other than English in their home
34
Eurocentrism
the dominance of European cultural patterns
35
Afrocentrism
the dominance of African cultural patterns in people's lives
36
Multi-Culturalism Pros
helps us come to terms with our diversity strengthens academic achievements or minority groups
37
Multi-Culturalism Cons
encourages divisiveness rather than unity
38
Ethocentrism
judging another culture by the standards of one's own culture opposite of cultural relativism
39
Cultural Relativism
views the behavior of a person from the perspective of their own culture
40
3rd World
Pre-Industrial
41
2nd World
Industrial
42
1st World
Post-Industrial based on computers and new information
43
Cultural Integration
close relationship among various elements
44
Cultural Lag
cultural elements change at different rates, which may disrupt a cultural system
45
Cultural Leveling
process in which different cultures become more and more the same
46
Inventions
the process of creating new cultural elements
47
diffusion
spread of cultural traits from one cultural system to another
48
3 Factors Promoting Global Culture
Global Economy- flow of goods Global Communications- flow of information Global Migration- flow of people
49
Limits to Global Culture
More advanced in some locations over others Many can't afford material aspects of global culture Different people attribute different meanings to various aspects of global culture
50
Virtual Culture
Bombarded with images that spring from the minds of contemporary cultures-makers via a screen Many shape the views of people's lives and beliefs
51
Culture in Relation to Functionalist Paradigm
Complex strategy for meeting human needs Cultural Universal Strength: show how culture operates to meet human needs Weakness: ignores cultural diversity & downplays the importance of change
52
Cultural Universal
traits found in every known culture
53
Culture in Relation to Social-Conflict Paradigm
rooted in materialism cultural traits function to the advantage of some & the disadvantage of others Strength: recognizes that many elements of a culture maintain inequality & promote the dominance of one group over others Weakness: understates the way that cultural patterns integrate members into society
54
Culture in Relation to Symbolic Interactionist Paradigm
little explanation
55
Sociobiology
theoretical paradigm that explores ways in which human biology affects how we celebrate culture rooted in evolution Weakness: may promote racism and sexism research is limited

Sociology (6 decks)

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