ASPECTS OF

CULTURE
 COMPLEXITY OF CULTURE
• •Culture is best understood through the lens of complexity. This means
looking at a culture as a ‘system’ that consists of many different ‘parts’
which interact with each other. This brings with it an understanding that it
is not simply the parts within the system [i.e. the people or things within a
workplace] that determine how the system works or behaves. It is the
relationship between all of these parts within the system that matters and
these interactions result in emergent behaviour.
THE WHAT, HOW AND WHY
OF CULTURE
•One way of achieving this is by asking not only the “what” aspects of culture,
But also the “how” and “why” of it.
 THE WHAT WHY AND HOW OF
CULTURE AND SOCIETY
WHAT HOW
• Characterized a given culture. • Identifies the processes that
guarantee the transmission and
dissemination of the contents.
 THE WHAT WHY AND HOW OF
CULTURE AND SOCIETY
WHY
• The reasons why individual
comply.
• The mechanism that facilitates the
performance of expected behavior.
THE ANATOMY OF CULTURE
AND SOCIETY
 THE ANATOMY OF CULTURE AND
SOCIETY
• ANTHROPOLOGY • SOCIOLOGY
• Is the study of humans and human • A social science that deals with
behaviour and societies in the past human interaction in formal and
and present.  informal settinngs, provides the
necessary momentum to complete
the culture picture.
 ANTHROPOLOGY
• WHAT • HOW
• Action • Refers to the process that
• Language guarantee the transmission of
content.
• Attitude

•Learned~>Shared~>Communicated
 SOCIOLOGY
• WHY • Through
• Refers to the reason for Socialization/Enculturation
cocompliance and the mechanisms
that facilitates performance. • Through Conformity

• Through Social Control

 SOCIOLOGY
• THROUGH CULTURATION • THROUGH CONFORMITY
AND SOCIALIZATION • Actions of individuals are
• Individuals are exposed to and routinized and institutionalized in
experience lessons in everyday context like Family, School,
interaction. The lessons are Church and Government. In time,
practical and address their basic they become part of their habits.
social needs.
 SOCIOLOGY
• THROUGH SOCIAL CONTROL
• Conformity, or its absence thereof,
is meted out through the system of
giving rewards and imposing of
punishment
ENCULTURATION AND THIRD
CULTURE SHOCK
ENCULTURATION AND THIRD CULTURE
SHOCK
• The counterpart concept of socialization is ENCULTURATION. It refers
to the gradual Acquisition of the characteristics and nnormsof a culture or
group by a person. Enculturation starts with actual exposure to another
culture and the duration and extent of exposure account for the quality of
the resulting enculturation.
• Third culture shock is experience when a person have stayed for a long
period of time in a foreign culture then exposed again to their birth
culture.
ASPECTS OF CULTURE
 ASPECTS OF CULTURE
• E.B. Taylor, An English anthropologist, was the first to coin the term
“culture” in the eighteenth century. The study of society is incomplete
without the proper understanding of the culture of that society because
culture and society goes together. Culture is a unique possession of man.
Man is born and brought up in a cultural environment. Culture is the
unique quality of man which separates him/her from the lower animals.
Culture includes all that man’s acquires in his social life.
DEFINITION OF CULTURE
 DEFINITION OF CULTURE
“The handwork of man and the medium through which he achieves his end”
-B. Malinowski
“An organized Body of conventional understanding manifest in art which
persisting through tradition, characterizes a human group.
-R. Redfield
 DEFINITION OF CULTURE
“The body of thought and knowledge, both theoretical and practical, which
only man can posses.”
-V. De Robert
“That complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morale, laws,
custom and any other capabilities and habits as aacquired by man as a
member of society.”
-E.B. Taylor
 DEFINITION OF CULTURE
• Culture exists in minds or habits of the members of the society. Culture is
people’s shared ways of doing and thinking. There are degrees of visibility
of cultural behavior, ranging from the regularized activities of person to
their internal reason for so doing.
CHARACTERISTICS OF
CULTURE
 CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE
• Culture means the “way of life” or their “design for living.”

“A culture is a historically derived system of explicit and implicit designs

for living, which tends to be shared by all or specially designed members
of a grouped.”
-Kluckhohn and Kelly
 CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE
Explicit Cultures- 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 teens dress, their mannerisms and conversation.

Implicit Cultures- Exists in abstract forms which are not quite obvious.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE

Three essences of culture as a system:

1)Super-Organic
2)Integrated
3)Pervasive
 CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE
• Super-organic • Integrated
-Culture is seen as something -Culture possesses an order and
superior to nature because nature system. Its various parts are
serves as the ingredient of any integrated with each other and any
cultural production. new element which is introduced
is also integrated.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE
• Pervasive
-This integrity of the culture
system makes it pervasive, that is,
it touches every aspect of life and
is manifested in two ways. One
culture provides an unquestioned
context within which individual
action and response take place.
 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. Humans become humans only among themselves. Culture
learning's are the products of behavior. As the people behave, there occur
changes in them. They acquire the ability to swim, to feel hatred towards
someone, or to sympathize with someone. They grow out of their previous
behavior.
 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, tradition, morals, values, and beliefs are
not uniform. Culture varies from time to time as well. These variation in
cultural manifestation are explained by the fact that culture is a human
product.
 CULTURE IS SHARED
• Culture is not something that an individual alone can possess. Culture, in a
sociological sense, is shared. For example, customs, tradition, beliefs,
ideas, values, morals, etc. are all shared by people of a group or society.
 CULTURE IS LEARNED
• Culture is not inborn. It is learned. Culture is often called “learned ways
of behaviors.” unlearned behavior is not culture. But shaking hands,
saying thanks, etc. are cultural behavior.
It must be noted however that not all behavior is learned, but most of it is
learned. Combing ones hair, standing in line, telling jokes, criticizing the
president, and going to the movie all constitutes behavior that had to be
learned.
 CULTURE IS TRANSMITTED AMONG
MEMBERS OF SOCIETY
• The culture ways are learned by persons from persons. many of them are "handed down" by
elders, parents, teachers, and other (of a somewhat older generation). While other Cultural
behaviors are "handed up" to elders.One does not acquire a behavior pattern spontaneously.
One learn it from someone.Culture is transmitted from one generation to
another.Transmission of culture is made possible by language.Transmission of culture may
place by imitation as well as by instruction. Language is the chief vehicle of culture.They are
able to do this because they possess language which transmits to them what was learned in the
past and enables them to transmit the the accumulated wisdom to the next generation.A
specialized language pattern serves as a common bond to the members of a particular group
or subculture.Culture is everything that is socially learned and shared by the members of a
society.
 CULTURE IS CONTINOUS AND
COMULATIVE
• Culture exists as a continuous process. In its historical growth, it tends to
become cumulative.Culture varies from society to society. Hence we say
the culture of india or the culture england.There are subcultures within a
culture. Clusters of patterns which are both related to the general culture
of the society and yet are distinguishable from int are called
subcultures.There is one fundamental and inescapable attritube (special
quality) of culture; the fact of unending change.But they are changing,
even though not obviously so.It is subject to slow but constant change.
 CULTURE IS GRATIFYING AND
IDEALISTIC
• Culture provides proper opportunities for the satisfaction of our needs and
desires.Culture determines and guides various activities of man.Culture
embodies the ideas and norms of a groups.Culture consists of the
intellectual artistic and social ideas and institutions. Which the members
of the society profess and to which they strive to confirm.
FUNCTION OF CULTURE
 FUNCTION OF CULTURE
• Among all groups of people, we find widely shared beliefs, norms, values,
and preference. Since culture seems to be universal human phenomenon,
it occurs naturally to wonder whether culture corresponds to any universal
human need.
 CULTURE DEFINES SITUATION
• Each culture has many subtle cues which define each situation. It reveals
whether one should prepare to fight, run, laugh, or make love.For
example, your right hand outstretched at waist level. Which means, he/she
wishes to shake hands in friendly greeting.But in another place or time the
outstretched hand might mean hostility or warning .Each society has its
insult and fighting words.A person who moves from one society into
another will spend many years misreading the cues.
 CULTURE DEFINE ATTITUDE, VALUE
AND GOAL
• Each person learns from his/her culture what is good, true, and
beautiful.Attitude, values, and goals. are defined by the culture.Attitude
are tendencies to feel and act in certain ways.Values are measures of
goodness or desirability.Goals are those attainments which our values
define as worthy.Winning the race, gaining the affections of particular girl,
or becoming president off the firm, by approving certain goals and
ridiculing other, the culture channels individual ambitions.
 CULTURE DEFINES MYTHS, LEGENDS
AND THE SUPERNATURAL
• Myths and legend are important parts of every culture, they may inspire or
reinforce effort and sacrifice bring comfort in bereavement.whether they are
true is sociologically unimportant.ghost are real to people who believe in
them and who act upon this belief.Myths and legends are powerful forces in
a groups behaviors.Culture also provides the individual with a ready-made
view of the universeThe individual does not have to select as he/she is
trained in a Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, or some other religious
tradition.This tradition gives answer to the major questions of life and
prepares the individual to meet life's crises.
 CULTURE PROVIDES BEHAVIOR
PATTERN
• The individual need not go through painful trial and error to know what
food can be eaten or how to live among people without fear.The culture
maps out to matrimony. The individual does not have to wonder how one
secures a mate; he/she knows the procedure defined by his/her culture.the
need for order call forth another function of culture_ direct behavior_A
society without rules or norms that define right and wrong behavior would
be very much like a busy street without traffic signs. or any understood
rules.
ETHNOCENTRISM
 ETHNOCENTRISM
• The word “ETHNO” comes from the Greeks and it refers to a people,
nation, or cultural grouping. Centric on the other hand, comes from Latin
and refers to the “center.” The term ethnocentrism then refers to the
tendency of each society to place its own culture patterns at the center of
things. 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 in other.
ETHNOCENTRISM
BE LIKE THIS GUY!!
 ETHNOCENTRISM
• It is a universal human reaction found in all known societies, in all groups,
and in practically all individuals. Everyone learns ethnocentrism while
growing up. The possessiveness of the small child quickly translates into
“my toys are better than your toys,” Parents, unless they are quite crude,
outwardly discourage their children from verbalizing such beliefs. But in
private, they may reassure their offspring's that their possessions are
indeed very nice.
ETHNOCENTRISM
 FUNCTIONS OF ETHNOCENTRISM
• The functions of ethnocentrism in maintaining order are more apparent
than those which promote social change. Ethnocentrism encourages the
solidarity of a group. Believing that one’s own ways are the best
encourages a “we” feeling with associates and strengthens the idea that
loyalty of comrades and the preservation of the basis for superiority are
important values. Positively, ethnocentrism promotes continuance of the
status. Negatively it discourages change.
 FUNCTIONS OF ETHNOCENTRISM

• Second, 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. In fact, attitudes of suspicion,
disdain and hostility are likely to be engendered. Extreme ethnocentrism
is likely to promote conflict, as the records of past wars and religious and
racial conflicts reveal.
 FUNCTIONS OF ETHNOCENTRISM
• Third, conflict of course often leads to social change. In that sense,
ethnocentrism becomes a vehicle for the promotion of social change. It
does so, however, through encouragement of its peaceful evolution.
CULTURAL RELATIVISM
 CULTURAL RELATIVISM
• Cultural relativism is 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. The way to deal with our own
assumption is not to pretend that they don’t exist, but rather to
acknowledge words.
XENOCENTRISM AND
XENOPHOBIA
 XENOCENTRISM AND XENOPHOBIA

XENOCENTRISM XENOCENTRISM
• Refers to a preference for the
foreign. In this sense, it is the
exact opposite of ethnocentrism. It
is characterized by a strong belief
that ones own products, style, or
ideas are inferior to those which
originate elsewhere.
 XENOCENTRISM AND XENOPHOBIA

XENOPHOBIA Example
• (xenos), meaning "strange", "foreigner", and φόβος
(phobos), meaning "fear".
• Shane's xenophobia prevents him
• Is the fear of what is perceived as foreign or strange. from going to social events where
Xenaphobia can be seen in the relations and there are people he does not know.
perceptions of an in-group toward out-group. 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.
CULTURE AS HERITAGE
 CULTURE AS HERITAGE
• Cultures have tangible and intangible components. The tangible ones are those that
are produced and created based on specific and practical purposes and aesthetic
values. Cultural artifacts both tangible and intangible and intangible may become
“heritage objects” by their sheer age and association with momentous historical
events and noteworthy personalities. Hence, as icons of cultural memory, they may
serve as irreplaceable emblems of events and personalities that once made a culture
proud and pleased. The typical heritage artifacts are sites and objects (National Flag)
(Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras), while typical intangible heritage may be
associated with events and music, dance, and literary creations ( paru-parung bukid)
(tinikling) (el filibusterismo).