Sociology Chapter 3

Front 1

culture

Back 1

refers to the learned and shared behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, values, and material objects that characterize a particular group or society

Front 2

society

Back 2

is a group of people who have lived and worked together long enough to become an organized population and to think of themselves as a social unit

Front 3

because of this interdependence, social scientists sometimes use the terms culture and society interchangeably

Back 3

some characteristics of culture
1. culture is learned
2. culture is transmitted from one generation to the next
3. culture is shared
4. culture is adaptive and always changing

Front 4

material culture

Back 4

the tangible objects that members of a society make, use, and share. these creations include diverse products such as buildings, tools, music, weapons, jewelry, religious objects, and cell phones

Front 5

nonmaterial culture

Back 5

the shared set of meanings that people in a society use to interpret and understand the world. symbols, values, beliefs, sanctions, customs, rules of behavior

Front 6

symbol

Back 6

is anything that stands for something else and has a particular meaning for people who share a culture

Front 7

language

Back 7

a system of shared symbols that enables people to communicate with one another

Front 8

linguist Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorl conducted comparative research on a wide variety of languages

Back 8

their theory, known as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, posited that language not only is a tool for interpersonal communication but also provides people with a framework for interpreting social reality and world around them

Front 9

language directs our thinking, controls our actions, shapes our expression of emotions, and gives us a sense of belonging to a group

Back 9

language has a profound influence on how we think about and act toward women and men

Front 10

values

Back 10

are standards by which members of a particular culture define what is good or bad, moral or immoral, proper or improper, desirable or undesirable, beautiful or ugly

Front 11

major U.S.values
sociologist Robin Williams has identified a number of core U.S. values. All are central to the American way of life because they are widespread, have endured over time, and reflect many people's intense feelings

Back 11

achievement and success, activity and work, humanitarianism, efficiency and practicality, progress, material comfort, freedom and equality, conformity, democracy, individualism

Front 12

norms

Back 12

values are general standards, whereas norms are society's specific rules of right and wrong behavior. norms tell us what we should, ought, and must do,a s well as what we should not, ought not , and must not do

Front 13

some characteristics of norms

Back 13

most are unwritten, passed down orally form generation to generations, they are instrumental because they serve a specific purpose, some are explicit, where as others are implicit, they change over time, most are conditional because they apply in a specific situations, because they are situational, norms can be rigid

Front 14

folkways

Back 14

are norms that members of a society see as not being critical for a society's survival and that, consequently, are not severely punished when violated. etiquette rules are good examples of folkways

Front 15

mores

Back 15

are norms that members of a society consider very important because they maintain moral and ethical behavior. according to U.S. cultural mores, one must be sexually faithful to one's spouse or sexual partner, must be loyal to one's country, and must not kill another person

Front 16

taboo

Back 16

strong prohibitions of any act that is considered to be extremely offensive and forbidden because of social customs, religious or moral beliefs, or laws

Front 17

laws

Back 17

formal rules for behavior that are defined by a political authority that has the power to punish violators

Front 18

sanctions

Back 18

most people conform to norms because of sanctions, rewards for good or appropriate behavior and penalties for bad or inappropriate behavior

Front 19

cultural universals

Back 19

are customs and practices that are common to all societies. anthropologist George Murdock and his associates studied hundreds of societies and compiled a slit of 88 categories that they found among all cultures

Front 20

ideal culture

Back 20

of a society comprises the beliefs, values, and norms that people say they hold or follow

Front 21

real culture

Back 21

every culture, however,these standards differ from the society's real culture, or people's actual everyday behavior

Front 22

ethnocentrism

Back 22

is the belief that one's culture and way of life are superior to those of other groups.some of my black students argue that it's impossible for African Americans to be ethnocentric because they suffer to much prejudice and discrimination

Front 23

ethnocentrism can be functional. pride in one's country promotes loyalty and cultural unity, it reinforces conformity and maintains stability. members of a society become committed to their particular values and customs, and transmit them to the next generation

Back 23

its benefits, but it's usually dysfunctional because viewing others as inferior generates hatred, discrimination, and conflict

Front 24

cultural relativism

Back 24

the opposite of ethnocentrism is cultural relativism, a belief that no culture is better than another and that a culture should be judged by its own standards

Front 25

subculture

Back 25

is a group of people whose distinctive ways of thinking, feeling, and acting differ somewhat from those of the larger society. to fit in members of most subcultures adapt to the larger society but maintain some of their traditional customs

Front 26

subcultures arise because of technological or other societal changes

Back 26

after the emergence of the internet, for example, subcultures arose that identified themselves as hackers, techies, or computer geeks

Front 27

counterculture

Back 27

deliberately opposes and consciously rejects some of the basic beliefs, values, and norms of the dominant culture. countercultures usually emerge when people believe when people believe they can't achieve their goals within the existing society

Front 28

some countercultures are small and informal, but others , such as religious militants have millions f members are highly organized

Back 28

counterculture

Front 29

multiculturalism(sometimes called cultural pluralism)

Back 29

refers tot he coexistence of several cultures in the same geographic area, without one culture dominating another

Front 30

culture shock

Back 30

a sense of confusion, uncertainty, disorientation, or anxiety that accompanies exposure to an unfamiliar way of life or environment. to some degree, everyone is culture bond because we've internalized cultural norms and values

Front 31

high culture

Back 31

sociologists use the term high culture to describe the cultural expression of a society's elite or highs social classes

Front 32

popular culture

Back 32

refers to beliefs, practices, activities, and products that are widely shared within a population in everyday life

Front 33

mass media

Back 33

or forms of communication designed to reach large numbers of people, have enormous power in shaping public perceptions and opinions