Sociology: culture
3.1 What Is Culture?
Culture is a learned system of shared meanings that includes values, beliefs, norms, rules, language, symbols, arts, artifacts, identities, and memories. Sociologists study how these elements shape behavior in specific situations and contexts, identifying patterns in how people create and enforce shared expectations.
Culture vs. society
| culture | society | |
|---|---|---|
| definition | Values, beliefs, norms, language, symbols, and practices of a group | People who share a culture |
| existence | Cannot exist without society | Cannot exist without culture |
Culture is divided into material culture (tangible objects like metro passes, buses, or clothing) and nonmaterial culture (intangible ideas, attitudes, and beliefs like norms about queuing or personal space). These two aspects are linked: material objects often symbolize cultural ideas (e.g., a metro pass represents capitalism and the acceptance of paying for transportation).
Cultural universals are patterns or traits found in all societies, such as the family unit, funeral rites, or humor. While these universals exist globally, their forms and functions vary across cultures (e.g., extended vs. nuclear families, or different interpretations of humor).
Reactions to cultural difference
| concept | definition | effect |
|---|---|---|
| ethnocentrism | Evaluating another culture by one's own cultural standards, often judging it as inferior | Can lead to disdain, stereotyping, or cultural imperialism (imposing one's values on another culture) |
| cultural relativism | Assessing a culture by its own standards rather than one's own | Promotes understanding and adaptation but may conflict with personal or universal ethical standards |
| xenocentrism | Belief that another culture is superior to one's own | Can lead to rejection of one's own culture or xenophobia (irrational fear or hatred of other cultures) |
Culture shock is the disorientation and frustration experienced when encountering a new culture, often arising from unanticipated differences in norms, behaviors, or expectations. It can manifest as discomfort or doubts about how to behave appropriately, even when initial excitement is high.
3.2 Elements of Culture
Elements of culture
Culture is organized around six core elements that guide how people think, act, and interact:
- Values: shared ideals and standards a society considers important (e.g., education, wealth, youth).
- Beliefs: tenets or convictions people accept as true, often shaped by underlying values (e.g., the American Dream rests on the value that wealth is important).
- Norms: rules of conduct that reflect what cultures define as good, right, and important. They are learned through observation, imitation, and socialization.
- Symbols and language: shared gestures, signs, objects, and words that carry recognizable meanings and enable communication across a society.
- Social control: rewards and punishments—sanctions—that encourage conformity to cultural norms, including both formal (laws, fines) and informal (smiles, frowns) mechanisms.
Types of norms distinguished by enforcement and moral weight
| formal norms | informal norms | mores | folkways | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| definition | written rules established by institutions (e.g., laws, employee manuals) | casual behaviors widely conformed to without explicit rules | norms embodying moral principles; violations carry serious consequences | norms without moral underpinnings; guide everyday etiquette |
| enforcement | strictly enforced, vary in degree | learned by observation and imitation | protected by laws or public sentiment | enforced informally; violations elicit mild disapproval |
| example | traffic laws, ‘no running’ signs | kissing Grandmother on the cheek, holding doors open | homicide, plagiarism | greeting with a handshake vs. a kiss, regional greetings |
- Sanctions
- Any form of social control—reward or punishment—that encourages conformity to cultural norms or rules.
Values are not static; they evolve across time and between groups as people evaluate, debate, and change their priorities. Ideal culture—the standards society aspires to—often differs from real culture, the actual behaviors observed.
Language is a symbolic system that structures communication and transmits culture. It shapes perception and behavior through linguistic relativity (Sapir-Whorf hypothesis), where language influences how users interpret and navigate their world.
3.3 High, Low, Pop, Sub, Counter-culture and Cultural Change
High, Low, Pop, Sub, Counter-culture and Cultural Change
Cultures contain internal variation along two axes: vertical (high vs. low) and horizontal (mainstream vs. subgroup).
- High culture denotes the cultural patterns of elite class segments, often linked to intellectualism, political power, prestige, and wealth. Examples include attending a ballet, a play, or a live symphony, or enrolling in a prestigious university.
- Low culture refers to the cultural patterns of the lowest class segments of society.
- Popular culture describes the cultural experiences and attitudes prevalent in mainstream society, accessible to most and spread via commercial and social media. Examples include parades, baseball games, television season finales, music, anime, and cosplay.
- The boundary between high and popular culture shifts over time and place. Shakespearean plays, once popular culture, are now considered high culture.
Subgroups within a larger culture are called subcultures—they share a specific identity while still participating in the larger society. Examples include ethnic and racial groups, biker culture, and the body modification community.
Countercultures reject dominant societal norms and values, sometimes forming communities outside mainstream society. Examples include cults (e.g., Yearning for Zion) and early Abrahamic religions, which were initially treated as countercultures.
Cultural change occurs through innovation (discovery or invention) and diffusion (spread across groups).
- Innovation is the initial appearance of an object or concept in society. It can be a discovery (revealing previously unknown but existing aspects) or an invention (creating something new from existing elements).
- Discoveries: Galileo’s observation of Saturn’s rings (1610) or Columbus’s encounter with Hispaniola.
- Inventions: Electric appliances (late 1800s–early 1900s) or mobile phones, which introduced new norms (e.g., texting replacing phone conversations in public spaces).
- Diffusion is the spread of cultural items or ideas across regions or populations, often via globalization. Examples include the adoption of Thai noodles in the U.S. or the influence of U.S. sitcoms worldwide.
- culture lag
- The delay between the introduction of new material culture and its social acceptance, which can cause tangible problems such as outdated infrastructure struggling to support modern demands.
Key processes driving cultural change.
| Innovation | Diffusion | Globalization | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Definition | Introduction of new objects/concepts (via discovery or invention) | Spread of cultural items/ideas across groups | Increase in interactions between regions/populations |
| Mechanism | Creation or revelation of novelty | Cultural integration via media, trade, or migration | Trade and interdependence fostering cultural exchange |
| Example | Electric appliances, mobile phones | Adoption of Thai noodles in the U.S. | U.S. sitcoms influencing global lifestyles |
3.4 Theoretical Perspectives on Culture
Theoretical Perspectives on Culture
Three sociological perspectives explain culture through different lenses.
| Functionalism | Conflict Theory | Symbolic Interactionism | |
|---|---|---|---|
| View of society | A system where all parts work together to maintain stability | An inherently unequal structure based on power differentials | A dynamic system created and maintained through face-to-face interactions |
| Focus on culture | Culture functions to support societal operation and meet members' needs | Culture reflects and reinforces dominant power structures and privileges | Culture is created and maintained through shared meanings and interactions |
| Example of cultural analysis | High value placed on education in the U.S. (classrooms, textbooks, teaching approaches) | Historical omission of events like the Tulsa Massacre to reinforce dominant narratives | Changes in language use and meaning over time (e.g., additions, deletions, translations) |
| Key question | How does culture contribute to social cohesion and stability? | Who benefits from cultural norms and who is oppressed? | How do individuals interpret and create cultural meanings through interaction? |
Glossary
- culture
- Culture is comprised of shared values, beliefs, norms and rules, language, symbols, arts and artifacts, and people’s collective identities and memories.
- society
- A culture represents the values, beliefs, norms, language, symbols, and practices of a group, while a society represents the people who share a culture; neither society nor culture could exist without the other.
- community
- A community is a definable region of a society, ranging from a neighborhood to a country or a region within a country.
- material culture
- Culture can be material or nonmaterial: material culture consists of tangible objects you can touch, while nonmaterial culture consists of intangible ideas, attitudes, and beliefs.
- cultural universals
- Cultural universals are patterns or traits that are globally common to all societies.
- ethnocentrism
- Ethnocentrism means evaluating and judging another culture based on one’s own cultural norms, and it is the belief that one’s own culture is better than all others.
- cultural imperialism
- Cultural imperialism is the deliberate imposition of one’s own cultural values on another culture.
- culture shock
- Culture shock is the disorientation and frustration people feel when they encounter a new culture.
- cultural relativism
- Cultural relativism is the practice of assessing a culture by its own standards rather than by the standards of one’s own culture.
- xenocentrism
- Xenocentrism is the belief that another culture is superior to one’s own; xenophobia is an irrational fear or hatred of different cultures.
- values
- Values are ideals or principles and standards that members of a culture hold in high regard, while beliefs are the tenets or convictions people hold to be true.
- ideal culture
- Ideal culture is the standards a society would like to embrace and live up to, while real culture is the way society actually is.
- sanctions
- Sanctions are forms of social control that encourage conformity to cultural norms or rules.
- norms
- Norms are the visible and invisible rules of conduct through which societies are structured.
- formal norms
- Formal norms are established, written rules; they are the most specific and clearly stated norms, and they are the most strictly enforced.
- informal norms
- Informal norms are casual behaviors that are generally and widely conformed to, learned by observation and socialization, and they may be difficult to learn in a new culture.
- mores
- Mores are norms that embody the moral views and principles of a group, often with a religious foundation, and violations can have serious consequences.
- folkways
- Folkways are norms without moral underpinnings that guide day-to-day practices and expressions of a culture.
- symbols
- Symbols are gestures, signs, objects, signals, and words that help people make sense of the world by conveying shared meanings.
- language
- Language is a system that uses symbols for communication and cultural transmission.
- Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
- The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, or linguistic relativity, says that people experience and understand the world through the cultural meanings embedded in their language, and that language shapes thought and behavior.
- high culture
- High culture is the cultural pattern of the elite class; low culture is associated with the lowest class segments of society; popular culture is the mainstream pattern of cultural experiences and attitudes.
- subculture
- A subculture is a smaller cultural group within a larger culture; its members share a specific identity but still participate in the larger society.
- counterculture
- Countercultures reject some of the larger culture’s norms and values and may develop their own rules and communities outside the dominant society.
- innovation
- An innovation is an object or concept’s initial appearance in society; innovations are discovered or invented.
- discovery
- A discovery makes known something that already exists but was previously unknown.
- invention
- An invention is something new formed from existing objects or concepts by putting them together in a new manner.
- culture lag
- Culture lag is the time between the introduction of a new item of material culture and its social acceptance.
- diffusion
- Diffusion is the spread of material and nonmaterial culture from one culture to another.
- globalization
- Globalization is the promotion and increase of interactions between regions and populations around the world, resulting in the integration of markets and interdependence of nations.
- functionalism
- Functionalism views society as a system whose parts work together, and it sees culture as necessary for society to exist and to meet people’s needs.
- conflict theory
- Conflict theory sees culture as shaped by inequality and power, with dominant groups using culture, education, and institutions to reinforce privilege and exclude others.
- symbolic interactionism
- Symbolic interactionism focuses on face-to-face interaction, shared meanings, and how people create and maintain culture through interpretation and symbols.