Understanding

Culture, Society,
and Politics
Lesson 3

Aspects of
Culture
Culture is people’s
way of life.
Culture is defined as :

ˮthat complex whole, which encompasses

beliefs, practices, values, attitudes, laws,
norms, artifacts, symbols, knowledge, and
everything that a person learns and shares
as a member of the societyˮ
-E.B Taylor
What is
Culture?
“Culture is the handiwork of man
and medium through which he
achieves his ends.”

-B. Malinowski
 “Culture is an organized body of
conventional understandings manifest
in art which, persisting through
tradition, characterizes a human
group.”

-R. Redfield
 “Culture is a complex whole, which
encompasses beliefs, practices, values,
attitudes, laws, norms, artifacts, symbols,
knowledge, and everything that a person
learns and shares as a member of the
society.”
-E.B. Taylor
Enculturation
and Culture
Shock
 Enculturation
Refers to the gradual acquisition of the
characteristics and norms of a culture or
group by a person of another culture.
It starts with actual exposure to another
culture and the duration and extent of
exposure account for the quality of the
resulting enculturation.
 Example:

You learning about

Korean or Japanese
culture because of
watching K-Dramas
and Anime.
 Example:

A person lived in
the province and
learned their
customs, language,
and their accent.
Culture Shock
is a good example of enculturation

This happens when an individual is

exposed or have encountered a new
culture for the first time and find it
different from what he is used to.
 Example:
When you go to Japan
and people starts
bowing to you as a
sign of respect, a thing
we do not do here in
the Philippines.
 Example:
When you go to
Thailand and you saw
people eating bugs as
a part of their diet.
Gross for us but
delicious for them.
 Example:

When
foreigners sees
us eating Balut
Explicit Culture
Refers to similarities in
words and actions which can
be directly observed.
 Example:
The adolescent
cultural behavior can
be generalized by
looking at the way
they dress, their
mannerisms, and
conversations.
Implicit Culture

This on the other hand,

exists in abstract forms
which are not quite
obvious.
Examples:

• The American
Dream

• Family Oriented-
ness of Filipinos
Reading Assignment

Read pages 52 to 64
of the UCSP
textbook.
Characteristics
of Culture
1 Culture is social
because it is the
product of behavior.
Culture does not exist
in isolation.

It is a product of
society.

It develops through
social interaction.
No man can acquire
culture without
association with others.
Human become humans
only among themselves.
Culture learnings are the
products of Behavior.
As the people behave, there
occur changes in them.

They acquire the ability to swim,

to feel hatred toward someone,
or to sympathize with someone.
2 Culture Varies from
Society to Society
Every society has a culture
of its own that differs from
other societies.

The culture of every

society is unique to itself.
Cultures are not uniform.
 Cultural elements
like customs,
traditions, morals,
values and beliefs are
not uniform.
Culture varies from
time to time as well.

These variations in cultural

manifestations are
explained by the fact that
culture is a human product.
3 Culture is Shared
Culture is not something
that an individual alone
can possess.

Culture, in a sociological
sense, is shared.
For example, customs, traditions, beliefs,
ideas, values, morals and etc. are all
shared by people of a group or society.
 The patterns of learned
behavior and the results
of behavior are possessed
not by one or a few
persons, but usually by a
large group.
4 Culture is Learned
Culture is not inborn.

It is learned.

Culture is often
called “learned ways
of behavior”.
Unlearned behavior is not culture.

But shaking hands, saying

thanks, etc. are cultural behavior.
 Culture is Transmitted
5 Among Members of the
Society
The cultural ways
are learned by
persons from
persons.

Many of them are “handed down” by elders,

parents, teachers, and others, while cultural
behaviors are “handed up” to the elders.
 Some of the transmissions of culture is
among contemporaries
For example

use of recent
the styles of
political views labor-saving
dressing devices
6 Culture is Continuous
and Cumulative
Culture exits as
a continuous
process.

In its historical growth, it

tends to become cumulative.
7 Culture is Gratifying
and Idealistic
Culture provides
proper opportunities
for the satisfaction of
our needs and desires.

Our needs both

biological and social are
fulfilled in cultural ways.
Functions
of Culture
1 Culture defines situations

Each culture has many subtle cues

which defines each situation.
It reveals whether one should prepare
to fight, run, laugh, or make love.
For example

Suppose someone approaches you with

his right hand outstretched at waist
level. What does this mean?

That we wish to shake hands in friendly

greeting is perfectly obvious – obvious,
that is, to anyone familiar with our culture.
2 Defines Attitudes,
Values, and Goals

Each person learns from his/her culture

what is good, true, and beautiful.

Attitude, values, and goals are defined by culture,

and the individual normally learns them as
unconsciously as he or she learns the language.
Attitudes
- tendencies to feel and act in certain ways.

Values
- measures of goodness or desirability.

Goals
- those attainments which our values
define as worthy
By approving certain goals and
ridiculing others, the culture
channels individual ambitions.

In these ways
culture determines
the goals of life.
 Culture Defines Myths,
3 Legends, and the
Supernatural

Myths and legends

are important parts
of every culture.
They may inspire or
reinforce effort and
sacrifice and bring
comfort in bereavement.

Whether they are true is

sociologically unimportant.
 Ghosts are real to
people who believe
in them and who act
upon this belief.
 Culture Provides
4 Behavior Patterns

The individual need not to go

through painful trial and error to
know what food can be eaten or how
to live among people without fear.
 People find a ready-made set
of patterns awaiting them
which they need only to learn
and follow.

The culture maps out

the path to matrimony.
The individual does not
have to wonder how one
secures a mate; he or she
knows the procedure
defined by his or her
culture.
 Given the fact that there’s a lot of
cultures in the world, there will be times
that we compare cultures to one another.
 This is unavoidable because we all have
our different sets of beliefs, values,
traditions and customs and interaction is
a part of our daily lives.
 The concept of Ethonocentrism,
Xenocentrism, and
Cultural Relativism happens when we
compare cultures with one another.
 Ethnocentrism
Ethno Refers to a people, nation, or
(Greek) cultural grouping.

Refers to the center. This

Centric word was coined by William
(Latin)
Graham Sumner.
Ethnocentrism is the practice
of comparing other cultural
practices with those of one’s
own and automatically
finding those other cultural
practices to be inferior.
 The act of evaluating
other cultures according
to preconceptions
originating in the
standards and customs of
one’s own culture.
 The functions of
ethnocentrism in
maintaining order are more
apparent than those which
promote social change.
1. Ethnocentrism encourages
the solidarity of the group

Believing that one’s own ways are the best

encourages a “we feeling” with associates
and strengthens the idea that loyalty to
comrades and the preservation of the basis
for superiority are important values.
2. Ethnocentrism hinders the
understanding or the
cooperation between groups.

If the ways of one’s own group are

best, there is little incentive to
interact with inferior groups.
3. Conflict of course often
leads to social change.

Ethnocentrism becomes a vehicle for

the promotion of social change. It does
so, however, through encouragement of
its peaceful evolution.
 Xenocentrism
Xenocentrism refers to a preference
for the foreign.
It is characterized by a strong belief that
one’s own products, styles, or ideas are
inferior to those which originate elsewhere.
 Example:

Filipinos seem happy

to pay more for
imported goods on the
assumption that
anything from abroad is
better.
 Xenophobia
The fear of what is perceived as
foreign or strange.
It may include fear of losing identity, suspicion of
the other group’s activities, aggression, and the
desire to eliminate the presence of the other
group to secure a presumed purity.
Cultural Relativism
The idea that all norms, beliefs,
and values are dependent on their
cultural context and should be
treated as such.
 A key component of
cultural relativism is the
concept that nobody,
not even researchers,
comes from a neutral
position.
 In a way, cultural relativity is a belief
that maintains it does not matter
whether cultures are either equal or
different because equality and
similarity do not necessarily translate to
real or imagined inferiority/superiority
of cultures out there.
 Appreciation of other
cultures may come about for
two complementary reasons:

1. Acquisition of
sufficient knowledge
about the culture in
question
 Appreciation of other
cultures may come about for
two complementary reasons:

2. Direct
exposure to other
culture
 Cultures have

Tangible Intangible
Components and Components
(visible) (nonmaterial)
 Tangible ones are
those that are
produced and created
based on specific and
practical purposes and
aesthetic values.
Cultural artifacts both tangible and
intangible may become Cultural
Heritage by their sheer age and
association with momentous
historical events and noteworthy
personalities.
The typical tangible
heritage artifacts
are sites and objects
Typical intangible heritage may include:

our national literary creations dances

anthem like music
other literary genre
unique to the
Philippines
 Check-in Activity
Directions:

Make a video of your routine in a day from the

beginning of your day up to the end. Review it on the
day after you take your video and observe if there are
movements, gesture or anything that you think reflects
any of the topics that we discussed. Use audio
recording and insert it on your video.
Here is the link for your reference
on how you can edit your video.

https://www.youtube.com/wat
ch?v=UgaWh-pf68I
 Performance Task
“Pandemic Can’t Stop Me”
Group Activity:
The class will be divided into 4 groups. Make your own
newspaper that shows the concept of Culture, Society and
Politics in our country during Pandemic (Covid’19). Tagalog and
English can be used but not Taglish. You can search for photos
that can support your news or use your own photo. You can use
publisher in doing your newspaper
 Here are the links of the tutorial
for using publisher.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cqo0PVhBFYI,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJUSK6U7eTE
Make sure that your news is not copy and paste in any site.
You can use scenarios that you observe or you experience.
Here are the parts of the news paper you will do:

1. General News – This is usually the most important news in both local and
abroad. These are usually found on the front page of the paper. The title of
the news is printed in big, bold letters called “banner headline
2. Editorial Page – This section contains articles called editorials. Editorials
give views or opinions of the editor or publisher on certain issues or events.
3. Entertainment Section – Contains info about movies, radio, television and
other activities for entertainment.
4. Home and Culture Section – Provides info about budgeting, food
preparation, house improvement, etc.
5. Society Page – Contains news about important people who are celebrating
special events in a particular place
END
 Prepared By:
Ruth Rosana A. Salamat
CEIS - Malolos