What is Culture?

1
What is Culture?

• Culture is the way of life of a group of people.

2
Cultural Diffusion

• When innovations or other cultural traits spread
  to a new culture region

3
Acculturation

• Occurs when one culture changes a great deal
  through the meeting of another culture.

4
Ethnocentrism

• Person that believes his/her culture is the best
  or better than others. Bad if extreme, good if it
  establishes self pride.

Ethno- cultural group Centric- the center
5
Stereotype

• Over simplified, commonly held opinion of a
  person or group.
• Often a composite of traits
• Generalizations about an entire group.

6
Bias

• Personal, distorted judgment that influences
  objective perception
• One sided

7
Xenophobia

• A fear of foreigners or things foreign

8
Elements of Culture

• Technology
• Language
• Institutions
• Economic systems
• Education
• Political systems
• Beliefs and Customs (Religion)
• Ethnicity

Mongolian
Puerto Rican
Kazakh
Turkish
Japanese
Thai
9
Technology (innovations)

• New way of doing things

Norman Borlaug. RIP September 12, 2009
Green Revolution
10
Language

• Spoken or written words human speech
• Gestures and greetings

11
Institutions

• Economic Systems-the way that money and goods are
  used by people
• Educational Systems-the development of the mind
  and character through study and training
• Political Systems-rules made and enforced by the
  government of a country

12
Beliefs and Customs(Religion)

• Answers basic questions about the meaning of life
• Supports values that groups of people feel are
  important
• Religion is often a source of conflict between
  cultures
• Monotheism Worship one God
• Polytheism Worship more than one God

Monotheism-belief in one god Polytheism-belief in
many gods
13
Ethnicity

• Group of people who share the cultural traditions
  of a particular homeland or hearth.

14
Characteristics of Culture

• Culture is learned
• Culture is unifying
• Culture is constantly changing

15
Culture is constantly changing due to

• New innovations
• Cultural diffusion