What is Culture?

- Basics in Sociology

Language, Beliefs, Values, Norms, Behavior

Passed from One Generation to the Next

Material Jewelry, art, buildings, etc.

Nonmaterial Cultures beliefs, values, etc.

Story in Ampleforth unfamiliar territory and

universal norms
Copyright Allyn & Bacon 2007 1

 Chapter 2: Culture

Culture and Taken-for-Granted

Orientations

Using your sociological imagination in culture

Meeting someone new and seeing the effects of a much different

culture

Internalization of our norms eye contact, space, etc.

Culture Shock When your material and non-material fail

you. The eerie feeling is culture shock. Ex. Pushing

Ethnocentrism Culture within us - Positive/Negative

Copyright Allyn & Bacon 2007 2

 Chapter 2: Culture

Copyright Allyn & Bacon 2007

3
Ampleforth

Copyright Allyn & Bacon 2007

4

Ampleforth Spring

Copyright Allyn & Bacon 2007 5

Ampleforth Orchards

Copyright Allyn & Bacon 2007

6

Researchers Accommodation

Copyright Allyn & Bacon 2007

7

 Different?

Same?

Both?

Copyright Allyn & Bacon 2007

8

Universal Values?

Copyright Allyn & Bacon 2007

9

 Chapter 2: Culture

Stereotypes and Humor Material

Heaven Vs Hell

Elephants across cultures

Allowed | Prohibited

War

Copyright Allyn & Bacon 2007

10
 Definition
Culture: The deposit of knowledge,
experience, beliefs, values, attitudes,
meanings, hierarchies, notions of time, roles,
spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and
material objects and possessions acquired by
a group of people in the course of generations
through individual and group striving
(Samovar & Porter, 2003, p. 8)
 Definition (Cont.)
An historically transmitted pattern of
meaning embodied in symbols, a system of
inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic
forms (Geertz, 1973, p. 89)
The term culture usually is reserved to refer
to the systems of knowledge used by
relatively large numbers of people *i.e.,
national groups] (Gudykunst & Kim, 2003, p.
17)
 Definition (Cont.)
Culture is simply a way of talking about
collective identities (Kuper, 1999, p. 3)

All people are the same, its only their habits,

that are different. Confucius
 Practicing Cultural Relativism

Understanding cultures on their own terms

Not seeing the culture as inferior or superior
None of us can be entirely successful at practicing
cultural relativism. Strange foods.
Evaluation through our lens.
Sick Cultures Robert Edgerton - Lack of
enhancement in our lives
Confronting Contrasting Views of Reality
Copyright Allyn & Bacon 2007 14

 Components of Symbolic Culture or
Non-Material Culture

Symbol something to which people attach meaning

and that they use to communicate
Gestures
Using ones body to convey messages without words
Gestures meaning differ among cultures
Can Lead to Misunderstandings
Left handed Americans
Copyright Allyn & Bacon 2007 15
Copyright Allyn & Bacon 2007
16

 Components of Symbolic
Culture
Language
Because written language lacks subtle cues,
Emoticons online use
Provides social or shared past
Provides social or shared future
Allows shared perspective
Allows complex, shared, goal-directed behavior
Like Gestures the same sound in one culture is
entirely different in another
Copyright Allyn & Bacon 2007
17

Emoticons - Mike Jones Microsoft Programmer

Smile with a
:-) Smile ;-)
wink
User with
:<}) mustache, :-|| Mad
smiling
:-)) Really happy :-D Big grin
:-* A kiss :' -( Crying
Sticking out
:-P~ A lick :-P
your tongue
Bug-eyed with
=8O :-~~~ Drooling
fright
Frightened User sports a
=:O (hair standing -:-) mohawk and
on end) admires Mr. T
Copyright Allyn & Bacon 2007 18

 Language and Perception:
Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Language has embedded within it ways of looking
at the world
Sapir-Whorf reverses common sense
It is our language that determines our
consciousness
Language both reflects and shapes cultural
experiences
Dry fruits
Linguistic relativism
linguistic determinism
Copyright Allyn & Bacon 2007 19

Values, Norms, and Sanctions
Values - What is desirable in life
The standards at which we determine what is good or
bad. Education, time is money, technology.
Norms - Expectations or rules for behavior
Should Do
Expectations in our societies
Behaviour in religious gatherings.
Sanctions - Reaction to following or breaking norms
Positive Sanctions
Negative Sanctions
Moral Holidays
Copyright Allyn & Bacon 2007
20

 Folkways and Mores
Folkways - Norms not strictly enforced. Line between
right and rude. Customs
Walking on the right side of the sidewalk
Holding a door
Not belching and burping.
Mores - Core Values: We insist on conformity. Drug
use or extreme dress style. Marriage - no bfs and gfs.
Taboo Most extreme more. Extreme disgust. For
example, Abortion, Giving an even number flowers in
Russia.
Law - Norm written down, Enforced. Theft, murder,
trespassing. Copyright Allyn & Bacon 2007
21

 Chapter 2: Culture

Copyright Allyn & Bacon 2007

22
Values in U.S. Society. Are ours
different?
Achievement
Progress Equality
and Success
Racism and
Material
Individualism Group
Comfort
Superiority
Activity and
Humanitarianism Education
Work

Efficiency and
Freedom Religiosity
Practicality

Science and
Democracy Romantic Love
Technology

Copyright Allyn & Bacon 2007

23

 Subcultures and
Countercultures
Subculture - A World Within the Dominant Culture
Example Engineering or Management Society.
Tens of thousands of subcultures
Some broad Some specific
Countercultures - Groups With Norms and Values at
Odds With the Dominant Culture
Survivalists -a person who anticipates and prepares
for a future disruption
Enthusiasts v. Gangs

Copyright Allyn & Bacon 2007

24

 Values Clusters,
Contradictions, and
Social Change
Value Clusters values that together form a larger whole
Hard work, education, efficiency, material comfort, and individualism
are bound together

Value Contradiction to follow the one means that you will

come in conflict with another. Freedom, democracy applied
only to some groups. Women's Liberation, Racism, Sexism

It is precisely at the point of value contradictions, then, that one

can see a major force for social change in a society.
Copyright Allyn & Bacon 2007
25
Emerging Values
Leisure
Luxury Cruises
Self-fulfillment
Self help movement
Physical Fitness
Fitness centers
Youthfulness
Plastic surgeries
Concern for the Environment

Copyright Allyn & Bacon 2007

26

Values and Culture
Culture Wars: When Values Clash
A student going abroad!
Value as Blinders What is attainable?
Ideal vs. Real Culture
Norms, values etc. that the group sees as ideal
However most people dont reach these ideals,
this is what sociologist call Real

Copyright Allyn & Bacon 2007

27
Cultural Universals
Some Activities are Universal - Courtship,
Marriage, Funerals, Games.

No universal way of doing any of them.

Copyright Allyn & Bacon 2007

28

Sociobiology
Controversial View of Human Behavior

Biology Cause of Human Behavior

Charles Darwin and Natural Selection

Sociologists and Biologists on Opposite

Sides
Copyright Allyn & Bacon 2007 29

Technology in the
Global Village
The New Technology - New Tools

Cultural Lag and Cultural Change

Technology and Cultural Leveling

Copyright Allyn & Bacon 2007

30

 Culturally Based Differences in
Management Style: Stereotypes
United States

Emotional,
egalitarians

China Germany

Low-profile, Technically expert,

tough authoritarians
negotiators

Japan
France
Formal, Elitist,
consensus authoritarians
seekers
 Multicultural Managers and
Organizations
The Multicultural Manager
Has the skills and attitudes to relate effectively to and
motivate people across race, gender, age, social attitudes,
and lifestyles. Respects and values the cultural differences.
Has the ability (e.g., is bilingual) to conduct business in a
diverse, international environment.
Has a cultural sensitivity in being aware and interested in why
people of other culture act as they do.
Is not parochial in assuming that the ways of ones culture are
the only ways things should be done.
Is not ethnocentric in assuming that the superiority of ones
culture over that of another culture.
 Protocol Dos and Donts in Several Countries

Great Britain

DO say please and thank you often.

DO arrive promptly.

DONT ask personal questions because the British protect their privacy.

DONT gossip about British royalty

France

DO shake hands when greeting.

DO dress more formally than in the United States. Elegant dress is highly valued.

DONT expect to complete any work during the French two
- hour
DONT chew gum in a work setting.

lunch
Italy

DO write business correspondence in Italian for priority attention.

DO make appointments between 10:00 and 11:00 or after 3:00.
DONT eat too much pasta, as it is not the main course.

DONT handout business cards too freely. Italians use them infrequently.

 Protocol Dos and Donts in Several Countries

Greece

DO distribute business cards freely so people will know how to spell your name.
DO be prompt even if your hosts are not.

DONT expect to meet deadlines. A project takes as long as theGreeks think is
necessary.
DONT address people by formal or professional titles. The Greeks want more informality.

Japan

DO present your business cards with both hands and a slight bow as a gesture of
respect.
DO present gifts, American-made and wrapped
.
DONT knock competitors.

DONT present the same gift to everyone, unless all members are the same organizational
rank.

 Short Activity
What are the protocol Dos and Donts in our
society?

Quickly make a list of Dos and Donts in the

areas of:
Gifts
Social Gatherings
Time Management
Competition
Formal/Informal dressing at workplace

Copyright Allyn & Bacon 2007

35

 Multicultural Organizations

The Multicultural Organization

Values cultural diversity and is willing to
encourage and even capitalize on
such diversity.
Benefits of a Multicultural
Organization
Achieves the benefits of valuing diversity.
Avoids the problems of not managing
for diversity:
increased turnover
interpersonal conflict
communication breakdowns
 Barriers to Good Cross-Cultural Relations

Perceptual expectations
Predispositions about the appropriate appearance and
physical characteristics of individuals.
Ethnocentrism
A belief that ones culture is the best and judging other
cultures by how closely they resemble ones own
culture.
Intergroup rather than interpersonal relations
Stereotyping individuals based on their group
membership
Stereotypes in intergroup relations
Assuming an individuals personal characteristics based
on their group membership.
 Cross-Cultural Processes:
Motivation
In order to use motivational concepts across cultures,
managers must know two key factors:
Which needs the people are seeking to satisfy.
Which rewards will satisfy those needs.
Research findings:
A motivational concept that
has a good cultural fit with
a culture can be
successfully applied
to that culture.