Cultures and our Society Terminology

Question 1

Material culture

Answer 1

The physical items that members of a society make, use and share.

Question 2

Symbolic culture

Answer 2

(also called non-material culture) abstract human creations of society that influence people’s behavior.

Question 3

Society

Answer 3

A group of people who are relatively self-sufficient and who share a common territory or culture.

Question 4

Culture

Answer 4

The traditions, customs and behaviors of a group. This includes ideas, behaviors, values and artifacts.

Question 5

Cultural universal

Answer 5

Customs and practices that occur across all societies.

Question 6

What are the six institutions of culture and what do they provide?

Answer 6

Politics - administration and public order.
Religion - where belief systems and rituals are arranged.
Economics - organizes the production, distribution, exchange and use of resources.
Family - regulates marriages, reproduction and family.
Education - where knowledge, values and practices are passed on to the next generation.
Recreation - fulfills the need for mental and physical stimulation.
(PREFER)

Question 7

Socialization

Answer 7

The things we are exposed to that teach us and shape us.

Question 8

Beliefs

Answer 8

What people think is true about the world.

Question 9

Values

Answer 9

Cultural standards that people use to distinguish good from bad.

Question 10

Norms

Answer 10

Rules and expectations that guide behavior within a society.

Question 11

Folkways

Answer 11

Informal rules that go without saying.

Question 12

More

Answer 12

(pronounced moray)
Official rules, stated, like laws.

Question 13

Taboo

Answer 13

Rules crucial to a society’s center (severely punished)

Question 14

Sanction

Answer 14

Society’s response to a behavior.

Question 15

Positive Sanction

Answer 15

Rewards for a behavior in accordance with norms/expectations.

Question 16

Negative Sanction

Answer 16

Punishments for a behavior in violation with norms/expectations.

Question 17

Ethnocentrism

Answer 17

Seeing your own culture as the best and all other cultures as inferior.

Question 18

Cultural relativism

Answer 18

Looking at other cultures and their practices within the context of their society.

Question 19

Social construct

Answer 19

An idea that is created and accepted by people in a society.

Question 20

Race

Answer 20

Groups that are often divided based on supposed physical traits regarded as common among people with shared ancestry.

Question 21

Racism

Answer 21

The belief that each race possesses certain characteristics, mostly in a way to distinguish superiority.

Question 22

Cultural diffusion

Answer 22

A process in which something belonging to one culture is spread from one society to another.