Unit 2 : Our culture Flashcards
(21 cards)
Material culture
Consists of actual objects or physical things like buildings, pieces of art, and clothing
Culture
The sum of learned behaviors, customs, knowledge, and material objects
Nonmaterial culture
Consists of the guidelines for group behavior, collective ideas, language, beliefs, and values
Cultural universals
Similarities across all societies
Cultural transmission
Each generation passes culture to future generations, you may adapt and change the behaviors, customs, and objects over time
Innovation
Introducing new objects or ideas to a culture
Diffusion
The process through which a piece of culture is transferred from group to group and from society to society
Technology
Information about how to use cultural objects and the environment’s resources for our benefit
Language
A central element to any culture
A system of meanings and symbols that are used for communication
Norms
The rules and guidelines that govern group behavior
Formal norms
Norms that are written down and generally have some sort of formal punishment for breaking the norm
Ex: laws, school policy
Informal norms
Norms that are generally understood, but not written down
Mores
Norms considered to be necessary for the welfare of society
Folkways
Norms dealing with everyday behavior
Cultural values
Collective ideas about what is important, good, and desirable
Sanctions
Rewards and penalties given to people for their behavior in regard to social norms
Ethnocentrism
Assuming that one’s culture is superior to other cultures
Cultural relativism
Doing another culture from the lens of that culture
Genocide
Killing an entire group of people just because of their ethnic identity
Subcultures
Smaller groups within a society that share their own set of norms and values that differs from the larger society
Countercultures
Deliberately oppose aspects within the larger culture
